As China cracks down on Hong Kong’s political opposition, two more universities removed memorials to the Tiananmen square massacre.
Chinese University of Hong Kong removed the statue of Goddess of Democracy from its campus, while nearby Lingnan University took down the relief sculpture of this goddess.
Hong Kong University workers remove part of “Pillar of Shame”.
These actions are in response to Hong Kong University’s removal of the Pillar of Shame statue, which commemorated the 1989 massacre of Beijing students.
This statue of the Goddess of Democracy was based on an original that was paraded in Tiananmen Square just before Chinese troops fired on protesters. Some still believe it to have killed as many as 10,000.
The Chinese University said it ‘never authorised the display of the statue on its campus’, while Lingnan University said it had ‘assessed items on campus that may pose legal and safety risks’ and removed them in ‘the best interest of the university’.
Beijing introduced an amendment to the law that gives authorities power over protestors in Hong Kong in June 2013.
The 2020 Hong Kong government used coronavirus regulations to prohibit the annual candlelit Vigil against the Massacre.
Tens and thousands of people marched against the ban in order to participate in the vigil. This is despite accusations that Hong Kong authorities were slaving to China.
For their part in the vigil, nine Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were sentenced in October to six to ten months prison.
Beijing introduced a new security law for Hong Kong in June last year curbing the city’s autonomy and handing the authorities powers to tackle protestors.
The law made illegal secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with foreign or external forces – details of the law were kept secret until after it was passed.
Democracy advocates claim that the law was used by them to restrict democratic freedoms.