A major Hong Kong university has dismantled and removed from its campus a statue that for more than two decades has commemorated pro-democracy protesters who died during the crackdown on the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989.
The artwork, showing stacked human torsos, is one of the few remaining public monuments in the former British colony to commemorate the bloody crackdown, which is a taboo subject in mainland China, where it cannot be commemorated in public.
Known as the “Column of shame”, The statue was a symbol of the freedoms promised to Hong Kong upon its return to Chinese control in 1997, which set the world financial center apart from the rest of China.
The city has traditionally held the world’s largest annual vigils to commemorate the crackdown in Tiananmen Square.
The Hong Kong University (HKU) Council said in a statement early Thursday that it made the decision to remove the statue during a meeting on Wednesday, “based on external legal advice and a risk assessment in the best interest of the University ”.
“The HKU Council has requested that the statue be stored and that the University continue to seek legal advice on any appropriate further action. “added.
Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot, creator of the statue, said in a statement that it was “totally shocked” and that “would claim compensation for any damage”To your private property.
Tiananmen survivor Wang Dan, who now lives in the United States, criticized the withdrawal in a Facebook post as “an attempt to erase history and memories written in blood ”.
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