Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Thousands of people filled Hong Kong 's Victoria Park on Saturday to mark the 22nd anniversary of the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square . The candlelight vigil comes after recent efforts by the Chinese government to quash would-be demonstrators from holding anti-government protests . About 26 people were arrested between February and March , according to a Hong Kong-based human rights group , when an anonymous group began an internet campaign calling for anti-government protests in China similar to ones that have taken hold in the Middle East . In response to the campaign , authorities deployed heavy security along major thoroughfares , especially in Wangfujing , a busy shopping street in downtown Beijing that had been designated by the online group for protests . The government also tightened rules on foreign reporters , explicitly warning them that they risk detention , suspension of press cards and expulsion if they show up at planned demonstrations . 20 years on : Tiananmen remembered . Saturday 's protest is an annual event organized by the Hong Kong Alliance , a pro-democracy group . Hong Kong police called it a `` peaceful gathering . '' Images of the demonstration showed a sea of flickering candles covering the length of the park . A little more than 22 years ago , students gathered in Tiananmen Square to memorialize the recently deceased Hu Yaobang . He was fired as Communist Party chief in 1987 by Deng Xiaoping for pushing policies deemed too soft toward `` bourgeois-liberal ideas '' and tolerating student protests . The April 15 memorial quickly turned into a pro-democracy movement , and students held talks with the government and later a hunger strike in Tiananmen Square to press their cause . On June 4 , 1989 , Chinese troops in armored personnel carriers and tanks rumbled toward Tiananmen Square . The soldiers , on strict orders to clear the square of demonstrators , had forced their way through the city 's main thoroughfare . Along the way , they met fierce resistance from students and city residents who barricaded the streets , so they fired at them . When the firing stopped , hundreds if not thousands of people lay maimed or dead . Relatives of victims renew their hopes every year that Beijing 's leaders will reverse the verdict that the protests were a counter-revolutionary rebellion that had to be put down . CNN 's Aliza Kassim contributed to this report .
Protesters converge on Hong Kong 's Victoria Park for a candlelight ceremony . It is the 22nd anniversary of the bloody attacks on pro - democracy protesters . The ceremony is held after recent efforts to curb anti - government protests .