[1/5] Hong Kong Newspapers from June 5, 1989, reporting the Tiananmen Square China uprising, is pictured during a press preview of the Tiananmen June 4th Memorial permanent exhibition, which opens June 2 in Manhattan, in New York City, U.S., June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Mike SegarNEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - The hope for a "free China" lives on in a new Manhattan museum dedicated to China's 1989 suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations around Tiananmen Square, exhibit organizers said on Thursday ahead of the 34th anniversary of the crackdown. The June 4th Memorial Museum in New York will be the only such permanent exhibition in the world, following the 2021 closure of a similar museum in Hong Kong under pressure from authorities. Public memorials of the crackdown were once allowed in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong police have barred a vigil there since 2020, citing COVID-19 concerns. Wang Dan, another former Tiananmen student leader who helped establish the museum, said he felt it was his obligation to show his respect for the protesters who died.

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Persons: Mike Segar, Zhou Fengsuo, Zhou, Wang Dan, Wang, Aleksandra Michalska, Michael Martina, James Pomfret, Jessie Pang, Don Durfee, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Hong Kong Newspapers, REUTERS, Museum, China's, Hong, Overseas, Reuters, Thomson Locations: China, Manhattan, New York City, U.S, Tiananmen, New York, Hong Kong, Beijing, Washington, British, Taipei, London, Berlin