(Hong Kong) Hong Kong students symbolically paid a solemn tribute on Friday to two sculptures commemorating the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement debunked overnight by two universities in the city, where Beijing leaves its authoritarian mark.
Wishing to erase the tributes to the bloody repression of June 4, 1989 in Beijing, the authorities had already removed from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) another statue in memory of the victims of Tiananmen the day before.
Hong Kong has long been the only place in China where the commemoration of the Tiananmen events was tolerated.
On the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), the statue of the Goddess of democracy was removed before dawn, before a few dozen students light candles and put flowers down instead.
PHOTO BERTHA WANG, FRANCE-PRESS AGENCY
Flowers were placed on the spot where the statue la Goddess of democracy has been withdrawn.
Those who gathered, carried signs saying “Shame on CUHK” or “Missing: have you seen her?” “. Songs commemorating the Tiananmen Uprising were repeated in a megaphone.
This statue of Chen Weiming was a six-meter-tall replica of the one erected by students demonstrating in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and a powerful symbol of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
The artist, based in the United States, expressed to AFP his “regrets” and his “anger”. “They act like a thief in the night,” replied Mr. Chen. “It’s the opposite of being clean and honest… They were afraid of being exposed and of receiving backlash from students and alumni.”
” Shame “
PHOTO TYRONE SIU, REUTERS
The sculptor assured that his work was on loan and that he would take legal action if it was damaged. He said he was considering seeking his removal to California, where he runs Liberty Sculpture Park.
For its part, Lingnan University has announced the withdrawal of a bas-relief commemorating Tiananmen, the work of the same artist. A wall with the Goddess of democracy was also repainted, before leaflets with the Chinese character meaning “shame” appeared on campus.
Two young women claiming to be former students assured AFP that they were behind these leaflets, explaining that they were angry after the university’s decision.
“They erase history. I don’t want to have to forget, ”said a woman named Tsang, who claims to be from mainland China.
“Lingnan University’s decision is an insult to the protection of historic monuments and academic freedom,” student leader Eric Tong told AFP, while a handful of students laid flowers and candles at the site of the bas-relief.
“What is happening on university campuses these days is a digest of Hong Kong society,” said Eri Lai, former CUHK student president, today at Georgetown University in the United States. United, saying they were sad but not surprised.
“The pillars of free expression, diversity and opposing views are no longer tolerated by the government,” he added. At the time, he says, the campus leadership already did not want the statue, but did not dare to touch it for fear of being publicly criticized.
Beijing left its authoritarian mark on the former British colony after the large and sometimes violent protests of 2019, including a draconian national security law.
The CUHK student union, known for its active role in Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement, was disbanded in October.
For Horace Cheung, vice-president of DAB, Hong Kong’s largest pro-Chinese party, removing these statues is on the contrary desirable.
“Many politicians have manipulated populist sentiments and incited hatred using the banner of democracy and freedom. Today, Hong Kong people can finally breathe freely and return to normal life, ”he wrote.
Other statues?
At least two other universities in Hong Kong house statues of the Goddess of democracy and on Friday, Hong Kong Baptist University locked one of them in a storage room.
Management told AFP that it “regularly examines its surroundings to ensure that the exhibits on display are legal and without any safety concerns.”
At another university, the City University of Hong Kong, the Goddess of democracy was still in her place, but the campus student leader said he had been warned she would be removed under national security law, local media reported.
With this law, any commemoration of Tiananmen is liable to prosecution.
The annual vigil on June 4 has been banned since 2020, officially for health and safety reasons. Several of its organizers were arrested and a museum chronicling the crackdown on the Chinese student movement in 1989 was closed.