Hong Kong: Two Hong Kong universities on Friday removed the 1989 Marking statues in the Protesters of Tiananmen democracy, when the authorities continued to erase all the remaining traces of the South China region.
The protection came a day after Hong Kong’s oldest university lowered the statue to commemorate bloody oppression, triggered protest by dissident activists and artists in the city and abroad.
Hong Kong is the only place in China where mass memories of Tiananmen are tolerated, with thousands of gatherings every year to lament the democracy of democracies killed by Chinese forces.
The city university campus marks oppression with statues commemorating events in clear illustrations of semi-autonomous territory freedoms enjoyed.
But early Friday, the University of China Hong Kong (CUHK) removed “Dewi Democracy” from its campus.
Statue by Chen Weiming – Replica of six meters (21 feet) from a giant statue established by students in Tiananmen Square – is a strong symbol of the Hong Kong democratic movement.
Around the same time, University of Lingnan Hong Kong moved other relief statues which marked the harsh action of Tiananmen, also created by Chen.
Transfer takes place on Christmas Eve, when most students are resting and far from campus.
The US-based artist said “regret and anger” by removing his work, adding that the university acted “illegally and unreasonably”.
“They act like a thief at night”, Chen told AFP.
“It is the opposite of being clean and on board …
they are afraid of exposure and attacks from students and alumni.” Chen said the work was only loaned into schools and that he would hire a lawyer to take legal action if the statue was broken.
Chen said he would consider asking works to be sent to California, where he runs the Liberty statue park.
CUHK said it removed the “invalid statue” after an internal assessment, added that the group responsible for moving it to the campus in 2010 no longer functioned.
Lingnan University said he had won the statue after “reviewing and assessing goods on campus which can cause legal and safety risks for the university community.” Beijing Remoulding Hong Kong with his own image after democracy protested two years ago and commemorating Tiananmen effectively became impossible.
Annual Candle Vigil to mark the crackdown of June 4 has been banned over the past two years, with the authority to quote security and pandemic fears.
In September, the police stormed the museum to commemorate Tiananmen and show off exhibitions, under the broad national security law imposed by Beijing in Hong Kong last year to curb differences after protests of large democracy and often occur.
The previous museum was closed when the authorities said they did not have relevant licenses.