Hong Kong: More Tiananmen Memorials Removed | tagesschau.de

The “Pillar of Shame” was just the beginning: just one day later, further memorials commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre were removed in Hong Kong.

In Hong Kong, the authorities continue to crack down on civil society and the culture of remembrance. At the Chinese University a statue with the name “goddess of democracy” was dismantled early in the morning. At Lingnan University, workers removed a relief.

Legal concerns and security issues were cited as justification. Both works of art are memorials in memory of the Tiananmen massacre in Beijing in summer 1989. At that time, soldiers killed hundreds of people in the Chinese capital, some estimates put thousands of deaths.

Universities as centers of remembrance

So far, unlike in mainland China, it has been possible to commemorate the bloody suppression of the democracy protests in Hong Kong. The universities in the Chinese Special Administrative Region have always been centers of remembrance.

Since the Chinese central government passed a so-called security law last year, action against civil society has also increased in Hong Kong.

Artist is considering legal action

The statue of the “goddess of democracy” that was removed in the morning was made by the artist Chen Weiming and had a model: a memorial that students erected during their protests in Beijing in 1989.

It is sad that the memorials have now been removed, said the artist, who is currently in the USA, the news portal Hong Kong Free Press. He worries that his work of art will be destroyed and wonders where it is right now. He’s also considering legal action, said Chen Weiming.

As little attention as possible over Christmas days

A Tiananmen memorial was removed on Thursday: the “Pillar of Shame” by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt on the Hong Kong University campus. That this happens around Christmas should not be a coincidence. The Chinese authorities often use the days at the end of the year to carry out actions that should receive as little attention as possible in the West. The background to this is that many correspondents are free over Christmas and media houses only work with minimal staff.

China rejects interference in its own politics

Next year in July, Hong Kong will be handed over from Great Britain to the People’s Republic of China for the 25th time. The Chinese state and party leadership had promised far-reaching basic rights for the former British colony: freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the rule of law.

For years, critics have denounced that the Chinese central government systematically undermines the promised autonomy of Hong Kong and does not adhere to internationally valid treaties. The state and party leadership rejects any criticism as interference. What happened in Hong Kong was solely a matter for China.