Beijing ? Chinese police tore up a protester’s poster and detained at least two people Sunday on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square as the country marked 17 years since local troops crushed a pro-democracy demonstration in the public space.

An elderly woman tried to pull out a poster with apparently political material written on it, but police ripped it up and then took her away in a van.

A farmer tried to stage a protest apparently unrelated to the 1989 crackdown, but he also was taken away in a van.

After dawn, a group of tourists tried to open a banner while posing for a photo, catching the attention of police, who quickly forced them to put the nonpolitical material away. They were not detained.

Discussion of the crackdown is still taboo in China outside of the semiautonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Chinese television news and major newspapers did not mention the anniversary.

In Hong Kong, several hundred people holding candles gathered at Victoria Park, creating a sea of lights covering four soccer fields. They observed a brief silence and organizers laid wreaths at a makeshift shrine dedicated to “martyrs of democracy.”

The crowd also sang the pro-democracy song, “Freedom Flower,” with the lyrics: “No matter how heavy the rain beats, freedom will blossom.”

Organizers claimed 44,000 attended the commemoration, but police put the figure at 19,000.

Students hold candles as they take part in a rally at Hong Kong's Victoria Park. Tens of thousands of people joined the candlelight vigil Sunday to mark the 17th anniversary of the military crackdown in China's Tiananmen Square on a pro-democracy student movement.

The crowd size was likely hurt by rainy weather in recent days and the lack of major political disputes.

“I hope the Chinese government will recognize this dark history,” Eric Lau, 14, said.

Retiree Yan San, 74, said he has attended the annual commemoration in Hong Kong since its debut in 1990.

“I have persisted in coming here for 17 years because I love freedom and democracy,” he said.

Wang Dan, one of the 1989 protest leaders who was jailed and then exiled to the United States, said in a taped video message: “We don’t want China to plunge into chaos nor do we want the ruling party to give up power. We only want the Chinese people to live freely and with dignity.”

China’s authoritarian government has stood by the suppression of what it has called “counterrevolutionary” riots, saying it preserved social stability and paved the way for economic growth.