Hong Kong University removes memorial to Tiananmen massacre

A monument at a Hong Kong university that commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has been removed by workers despite the objections of its creator from Denmark.

The dismantling of the sculpture early Thursday came days after pro-Beijing candidates scored a landslide victory in the Hong Kong legislative elections, after amendments in election laws allowed the vetting of all candidates to ensure that they are “patriots” loyal to Beijing.

“Latest legal advice given to the university cautioned that the continued display of the statue would pose legal risks to the university based on the Crimes Ordinance enacted under the Hong Kong colonial government," the university said in a statement.

Workers barricaded the monument at the University of Hong Kong late Wednesday night. Drilling sounds and loud clanging could be heard coming from the boarded-up site, which was patrolled by guards.

The 8-meter tall Pillar of Shame, which depicts 50 torn and twisted bodies piled on top of each other, was made by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiøt to symbolise the lives lost during the bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

The university said that it had requested for the statue to be put in storage and would continue to seek legal advice on follow-up actions.

READ MORE: Hong Kong group that organises annual Tiananmen vigil disbands

Climate of oppression 

The Pillar of Shame monument became an issue in October, with the university demanding that it be removed, even as activists and rights groups protested.

The university informed the now-defunct candlelight vigil organiser, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, that it had to remove the statue following “the latest risk assessment and legal advice”.

The organisation had said that it was dissolving, citing a climate of oppression, and that it did not own the sculpture. The university was told to speak to its creator instead.

Galschiøt offered to take it back to Denmark provided he was given legal immunity that he won't be persecuted under Hong Kong's national security law, but has so far not succeeded.

The removal took place in the same week that Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam traveled to Beijing to report on developments in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, where authorities have silenced dissent following the implementation of a sweeping national security law that appeared to target much of the pro-democracy movement following mass protests in 2019.

Over 100 pro-democracy activists have been arrested since Beijing implemented the national security law in Hong Kong. It outlaws secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion to intervene in the city’s affairs.

Critics say the law rolled back freedoms promised to Hong Kong when it was handed over to China by Britain in 1997.

READ MORE: Nine more Hong Kong activists handed jail time for Tiananmen vigil