Tiananmen: the healthy memories we must not forget.

(From South China Morning Post)

Byline: CHRIS YEUNG AT LARGE

To describe it as the most sensitive date in Beijing's calendar would invite little comment. But as the anniversary of 1989's June 4 crackdown draws near, a feeling of restlessness and a depth of uncertainty also prevail in no little measure in Hong Kong.

Both cities' governments are on high alert over the possibility of social unrest as people hold commemorative activities in tribute to the victims of the Tiananmen Square killings.

For many people, June 4 has continued to evoke complex feelings about the state of their country and our special administrative region under Chinese rule.

Fourteen years on, the Tiananmen military oppression remains a source of unease, if not friction, both in Hong Kong society and mainland-Hong Kong relations. Dozens of pro-democracy activists, the core of a coalition formed in 1989 to push for democracy in the mainland, are still blacklisted by the mainland authorities. They are not allowed to visit their own country.

The hostilities between the "small d" democrats and the central government have further complicated the icy relationship between the pro-democracy camp and Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.