Concert for Democracy in China


The Concert for Democracy in China was a benefit concert held in Hong Kong in support of the students involved in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. The concert was held on May 27, 1989 at the Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island. The event lasted for 12 hours and raised over for the students in Beijing.

Event

The event was hosted by James Wong, Phillip Chan, Eric Tsang, and John Shum. Shum stated in an interview that no performers were invited to the concert; all of the performers enlisted voluntarily. Sing Pao Daily News reported that the event was attended by nearly one million people, while Ta Kung Pao reported around 500,000 participants. Other estimates state the event was attended by around 200,000 people.

Notable musicians involved in the performance

, Teresa Teng, Jackie Chan, Liza Wang, Anita Mui, Hou Dejian, Lydia Shum, Wakin Chau, Lowell Lo, Kenny Bee, Cheung Ming-man, Danny Chan, Jacky Cheung, Tai Chi, Beyond, Tat Ming Pair, Hacken Lee, Vivian Chow, Ram Chiang, Maria Cordero and Dave Wang.
Andy Lau, Chow Yun-Fat, Alan Tam, Shing Fui-On, Loletta Lee, Chin Siu-ho and Maggie Cheung also appeared through a large screen on the stage.

North American Tour

The concert also toured outside of Hong Kong in 1990, namely with North American stops in Vancouver, San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Aftermath

After the event, Lee Cheuk-yan, representing the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, was detained upon arriving in Beijing with in donations made by the Hong Kong people to the event. He was forced to sign a confession letter and released three days later; the funds were confiscated by authorities in Beijing.

Donald Tsang attendance controversy

In June 2006, Szeto Wah and other participants recalled seeing Donald Tsang attend the event. However, Tsang denied "unequivocally" he ever attended the event, stating that he had merely bumped into Szeto Wah after having dinner with his son at the Hong Kong Jockey Club. At the 2006 commemoration of the 1989 protests in Hong Kong, Fernando Cheung also claimed that Donald Tsang attended the concert, claims which Tsang again denied.

Song list

See :zh:民主歌聲獻中華#曲目|list on Chinese Wikipedia.