Hong Kong Police Wanchai district headquarters on August 21, 2019 Photo: Xinhua

The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) has rejected a request to hold a candlelight vigil at Victoria Park on June 4, and an assembly and parade on May 30, citing COVID-19 concerns, according to Hong Kong media report.  

Citing the Prevention and Control of Disease (Prohibition on Group Gathering) regulation, the HKSAR government also said on Wednesday it would maintain the social distancing measures from May 27 to June 9. 

Under the regulation, gatherings of more than four persons in public places would continue to be prohibited. 

In response to the request, officers said Hong Kong's response level to the COVID-19 pandemic remains at the highest "emergency" level, warning that allowing the events to go ahead would increase participants' risk of contracting the virus, local newspaper Ming Pao reported Thursday. 

"Participating in an unauthorized assembly is illegal and carries a maximum of five years in prison," Secretary for Security John Lee said on Thursday afternoon regarding the decision. 

Citing the Public Order Ordinance, the HKPF decided not to approve the assembly or movement in late May and early June. 

The vigil organizer, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, said it will appeal to the Appeal Board on Public Meetings and Processions. 

The vigil and parade was also banned by authorities last year, citing similar concerns. However, hundreds still gathered at Victoria Park despite the ban. Later, a number of lead secessionists, including Joshua Wong, were sentenced to several months in prison for knowingly taking part in an unauthorized assembly. 

The day before the HKFP issued the letter of objection to the group on the vigil, the Macao SAR authority rejected the request to hold a vigil on June 4 in Macao, citing subversion risks, hk.on.cc reported.  

Citing the Penal Code of Macao, the local police said the vigil's slogans such as "end one Party dictatorship" and "stop political prosecution" are embedded with characteristics of subversion. 

By using the vigil as an excuse, participants to the event had been spreading fake information about the Communist Party of China and past history, and their ultimate goal was to challenge the legitimacy and validity of the central government, or even to subvert state power, a professor on Hong Kong and Macao studies who preferred not to be named told the Global Times on Thursday. 

And such ill-intentioned attempts are suspected of violating the national security law, he said.  

"Banning the candlelight vigil in Hong Kong is in line with anti-epidemic related law in the city," the expert added. 

To guard against a rebound of the epidemic situation, the HKSAR government decided on Wednesday to maintain the social distancing measures, with the city has reported in total 11,837 COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, which was hit by a cluster infection in March. 

The HKPF decision on the vigil is based on the current epidemic situation in Hong Kong, in accordance to the anti-epidemic measures, Tang Fei, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Thursday. 

"Whether the Hong Kong police will oppose or agree to the assemblies depends on their consideration by taking local laws such as the Crime Ordinance or Public Order Ordinance into account," he said.

When asked about whether the vigil in Hong Kong would violate the law, Lee did not reply, saying that he won't comment on whether certain behavior is suspected of violating the national security law. But he emphasized that police would follow seriously any attempts of organizing, planning and conducting plans to subvert state power for investigation, local media in Hong Kong said.