A former Hong Kong independence activist now living with refugee status in Germany warned Tuesday, 30 years after the Tiananmen crackdown, that a "brutal" China is now eroding democratic freedoms in the former British colony.

While the regime's bloody suppression of Beijing pro-democracy protests in 1989 shocked the world, "China is now more brutal than ever," asserted Ray Wong, 25, speaking in Berlin.

"The free world must wake up... and defend the honour and dignity of Hong Kong," he said, arguing that the people of the special territory fear "becoming like Tibet or Xinjiang", two autonomous regions tightly ruled by Beijing.

Hong Kong enjoys freedom of speech and assembly rights unseen on the Chinese mainland under a 50-year handover agreement between former colonial power Britain and China, but many fear those liberties are being eroded.

Wong and fellow activist Alan Li took part in Hong Kong's so-called "Fishball Revolution" of 2016 which saw the city's worst violence for decades, leaving scores of people injured and dozens arrested.

The two men were due to stand trial on riot charges but fled Hong Kong in November 2017 and flew to Germany where they were granted refugee status about a year ago.

Their asylum cases are among the first for dissenters from the semi-autonomous Chinese city, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

- 'Democracy fighters' -

Wong said that the "one country, two systems" rule was under threat as Hong Kong looks set to pass a new law allowing extraditions to mainland China.

"How can the Hong Kong government agree to extradite its own citizens if it knows they will likely be mistreated?" he asked.

Wong was speaking at a German Greens Party event to mark 30 years since the Chinese pro-democracy protests were brutally quelled by tanks and soldiers on June 4, 1989, leaving hundreds, possibly more than 1,000, dead.

Berlin-based Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, 61, praised Germany for taking in the "young democracy fighters" from Hong Kong.

He too voiced concern that "recently the communist regime has applied pressure and Hong Kong has started leaning more and more toward mainland China".

Ai said about Hong Kong that "in many, many ways they have started changing, even changing their law, which is very unfortunate", calling the proposed extradition law "extremely dangerous".

The outspoken artist, who was detained by China's communist government in 2011, praised Germany for taking in dissidents despite its strong trade and investment ties with the world's second largest economy.

"As we all know, Germany has strong relations with China, but at the same time Germany always acts with some principles, such as accepting me and also accepting the wife of (late Tiananmen protest veteran and Nobel Peace Prize winner) Liu Xiaobo, Liu Xia, and accepting these two refugees from Hong Kong.

"I think this sends the world a very positive message."

US Congress presses China on Tiananmen anniversary
Washington (AFP) June 4, 2019 - The US House of Representatives urged China on Tuesday to end its wall of silence over the crushed Tiananmen Square movement, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi vowing on the 30th anniversary to keep the memory alive.

The House approved a resolution that urged China to provide a "full, transparent and independent accounting" of the Tiananmen crackdown, in which hundreds if not more than 1,000 pro-democracy protesters were killed on June 4, 1989 as the communist rulers sent in tanks and troops.

The resolution -- sponsored by Democratic Representative Jim McGovern and passed unanimously with 10 members not voting -- called on Beijing to allow Tiananmen dissidents who fled to the United States or elsewhere "to return to China without risk of repercussions and retribution."

It also urged China to "cease the censoring of information and discussion about the Tiananmen Square massacre" including at Confucius Institutes, the centers for Chinese studies that Beijing has supported at universities around the world.

Pelosi, a longtime advocate for human rights in China, said she was making a promise to the Tiananmen Mothers, who have fought on behalf of victims.

"Today, and on all days, we assure these mothers that we remember, and that the heroism of their children will continue to be written in the official history of the United States Congress," Pelosi told the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, which monitors human rights in the country.

"We must remember, because China still tries to deny history," Pelosi said, in a rare appearance by a House leader before a congressional hearing.

Pelosi voiced concern that China is "going in the opposite direction" on human rights.

"It's important for the world to know, 30 years later, that we haven't forgotten what happened then and that we know what is happening now and it will have an impact in our relationship with China," she said.

Pelosi's remarks came a day after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo demanded that China provide a full accounting of the Tiananmen crackdown and release political prisoners, saying that the United States had lost hope for improvements in China's human rights record over the past 30 years.

His statement prompted an unusually angry reprimand from China, which denounced his "lunatic ravings and babbling nonsense."

China went to great lengths to avoid commemorations of the anniversary, with authorities detaining activists and ramping up surveillance of the square itself, with livestreaming services suddenly down for "technical" reasons.

Pelosi, whose district includes San Francisco's Chinatown, infuriated Beijing on a visit as a rank-and-file lawmaker in 1991 when she unfurled a pro-democracy banner in Tiananmen Square to honor the victims.

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Hong Kong's alienated youngsters split over Tiananmen vigil
Hong Kong (AFP) May 31, 2019
Hong Kong's youth are shunning their city's annual Tiananmen vigil, focused on fighting their own pro-democracy battles instead of commemorating a historical atrocity against compatriots from whom they feel steadily more alienated. Students and youngsters have been at the vanguard of democracy protests that have convulsed Hong Kong in recent years as anger rises over inequality and Beijing's moves to chip away at the financial hub's unique freedoms. A vivid illustration of those freedoms has lon ... read more