Tiananmen Square Anniversary: 22 Years Later, China's Pro-Democracy Movement Remains On The Fringe (VIDEO)

In what has come to be seen as a year of emotional upheaval, China's pro-democracy movement continues -- but only on the fringes of society.

As China's infamous 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown nears its anniversary on June 4, debate over how much progress has been made in the 22 years since then is yet again surfacing worldwide, Reuters is reporting. Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei reportedly says the Chinese people enjoy the best human rights conditions in the country's history and have broad political rights. But with last year's Nobel Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo currently serving an 11-year jail sentence and the fate of famed artist Ai Weiwei currently in question, political dissidents continue to make global headlines.

In honor of those dissidents and others, a group of Hong Kong students is re-creating the 1989 hunger strikes, and are planning to go without food until the anniversary. "We want to remind Hong Kong people they should not forget....they must [come forward] to us with their voice to pester the Chinese government to change their political structure," one protester says.

Watch Reuters report on the anniversary here: