"I just want to remember the heroes of June 4th, 1989, that's all," said a squat middle-aged man huddled under an umbrella, his glasses spattered with rain. "They died for the people and for democracy. We must always remember them." He was one of tens of thousands of democracy supporters who filled a central park in Hong Kong last night for a moving candle-lit vigil for the people who died during the army crackdown on the student movement in Beijing's Tiananmen Square nine years ago.
Hong Kong has held a huge memorial rally every June 4th since then, but last night's was the first since Hong Kong reverted to China last year.
Dozens of giant yellow wreaths were laid next to the "Pillar of Shame", a grey obelisk by a Danish artist showing the twisted bodies of victims of repression, to the amplified wailing of a Chinese flute.
For a time last year there were fears that the rally would be banned, especially when the territory's Beijing-approved chief executive, Mr Tung Chee-hwa, said it was time for Hong Kong people to put "the baggage" of Tiananmen behind them.
Instead almost the same number of people turned out this year as last, demonstrating not just the continuing desire of Hong Kong people to commemorate Tiananmen's victims but also Beijing's commitment not to interfere in Hong Kong's freedoms under its policy of one country-two systems.
The attendance in Victoria Park was all the more remarkable given the weather. A relentless downpour drummed onto a forest of umbrellas, occasionally dousing the thousands of guttering candles, and flooding the ground underfoot with an inch of water.
Sheets of rain water falling through arc lights almost obscured a giant screen where Mr Wang Dan, the student leader in Tiananmen Square who was released from prison and exiled by Beijing three months ago, was shown thanking Hong Kong people for their campaign for his freedom.
For the Chinese government agents who undoubtedly infiltrated the crowd, the most significant point made by Mr Wang in a telephone link-up with the US was that Hong Kong, as part of China, would in future be the bedrock for the democratisation of what Hong Kong people call the mainland.
Last year the 30,000 demonstrators spoke of their concern about the future of civil liberties in the territory and this year the emphasis was on the struggle for reform in the whole of China. The role of Hong Kong "in the process of democratisation of China will be a very special and vital one," said the former student leader.
"Let us fight together, quicken the pace of democratisation." Mr Wang, who would probably have been refused entry to Hong Kong because of his criminal record in China as a dissident, said he hoped to join the vigil next year and that he was very optimistic about the future of the democratic movement in China.
There was also a video-taped message from Mr Wei Jingsheng, another high profile dissident exiled to the United States six months ago after spending 18 years in Chinese jails. He too emphasised that "the support of the people of Hong Kong is crucial to the democratic movement and the democratisation of the mainland."
Democracy in China was imminent, he claimed. "The primary hope of our friends on the mainland is that the people in Hong Kong can protect this small democratic field with a clear mind and make it an embryo for the democracy of the whole of China." This was greeted with applause from the crowd.
"If we forget the martyrs and do not demonstrate for democracy, what chance is there of democracy on the mainland?" asked a university student huddled with a friend beside a 15-foot monument which had been painted with Chinese characters saying "Warriors of democracy will never die."
On the stage a cauldron of oil was lit by students to symbolise hope and freedom. There was applause from a line of male activists in head bands drenched to the point where their t-shirts were transparent.
On July 1st further pro-democracy demonstrations are expected when President Jiang Zemin attends celebrations in Hong Kong to mark the first anniversary of its handover by Britain.
Polls show that people in Hong Kong are more relaxed about being under Chinese sovereignty now than a year ago. Some 65 per cent believed Beijing was doing a good job compared to 45 per cent last June, mainly because China had not interfered in Hong Kong's way of life.
The US President, Mr Bill Clinton, is scheduled to visit Hong Kong during July 2nd-3rd after a summit in Beijing.
Following the success of the Democratic Party in elections to the legislative council, the party chairman, Mr Martin Lee, is to be given a private meeting with Mr Clinton, diplomatic sources said in Hong Kong last night.
Earlier the White House had said, in deference to Beijing, that Mr Clinton would meet him only as part of a group of legislators. While Hong Kong people gave voice to their pro-democracy feelings last night, the leading communist party member to be imprisoned at the time of the Tiananmen Square protests was speaking out in Beijing.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Mr Bao Tong said that the student demands had been just and proper and their motivation good. Mr Bao, who was assistant to proreform party secretary, Mr Zhao Ziyang, warned that unless the government established a systems of checks and controls, Tiananmen Square could happen again. He said it was a stupid move to invite Mr Clinton to a welcome reception in the square. "What will we do if he presents a wreath and offers it to the souls of the students," he asked.
In Beijing yesterday Tiananmen Square was quiet apart from the usual tourists and police. But in a demonstration of how touchy the authorities are, public security agents seized a wheelchair-bound petitioner in the square yesterday and dragged him away screaming after he distributed leaflets.
The incident was not directly related to the anniversary. Mr Wang Zhongyi, a farmer from south-eastern Fujian province, wanted to draw attention to the alleged abuse of power by officials in a personal injury case that left him crippled.