First modification:
This Friday, December 24, two educational institutions in Hong Kong removed from their campuses two works of art that were made to remember the victims of the Tiananmen massacre in 1989. The incident occurs one day after the University of Hong Kong removed the work ‘Pilar de la Vergüenza’ of its facilities, in the midst of an acid controversy.
The ‘Goddess of democracy’ disappeared this Friday, December 24, from the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK in English), on the pretext that the work of art could present “legal and security risks”, as explained by the educational institution in a statement.
The university also said that this “unauthorized statue”, a replica of another that stood in Tiananmen Square in 1989, had been removed after an “internal study.”
“I am shocked by the situation. The statue has been there for a long time and is very important to CUHK students. We got used to it being there. Such an important and symbolic statue was removed overnight. I’m very surprised and I think the university needs to explain itself, ”said Felix Chow, a CUHK student.
The removal of the sculpture comes a day after the ‘Pillar of Shame’, a monument at the University of Hong Kong that was the best-known reminder of the massacre of that time on Chinese soil, was removed.
Hong Kong universities are joining the ongoing crackdown on tributes to the Tiananmen events, which have been a symbol of the political freedoms Hong Kong enjoyed until 2020, when Beijing imposed a Security law to ban countless numbers of public activities that go against your government.
University officials “acted like thieves in the night”
Chinese-born New Zealand artist and sculptor Chen Weiming is the author of the work ‘Goddess of Democracy’. The replica of the sculpture that was in Tiananmen Square measures six meters and was erected by the students who demonstrated at that time. Today, the work represented a symbol of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement.
Chen, currently based in the United States, expressed his “regret” and “anger” and said that the University had acted “illegally and unreasonably” and would therefore take legal action if it was damaged.
“They act like thieves at night,” said the artist, adding that “it is the opposite of being clean and honest (…) They were afraid of being exposed and receiving a violent reaction from students and alumni.”
Another work by the same artist, located at Lingnan University, was removed this Friday. It was a commemorative relief of the events in Tiananmen, in which thousands of students were victims of a deadly repression by the authorities.
The institution assured that it did so after having “examined and assessed the elements of the campus that may present legal and security risks for the university community.”
With AFP and AP
.