Two other monuments to the Tiananmen massacre were demolished in Hong Kong Hong Kong protest news

Lingnan University dismantles the relief of the Tiananmen massacre and removed another piece from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Goddess of Democracy.

A liberal arts university in Hong Kong has removed a relief depicting the deadly events of the 1989 Tiananmen Square repression, a day later. a similar work of art was removed from another major academic institution At the Asian Financial Center.

Lingnan University officials blocked the Tiananmen Square massacre on Friday morning before removing the area where the sculpture was installed, according to the Lingnan University Student Union Press Office.

In a social media post, Hong Kong-based photographer and columnist Galileo Cheng also confirmed that Chinese-born New Zealand artist Chen Weiming had removed a 6.4-meter (21-foot) -3.2-meter (10.5-foot) piece from the university which was installed. 2010.

Lingnan University said in a statement that the decision to remove the piece was “in the general interest of the university community.”

The sculpture Goddess of Chen Democracy was also removed from the University of China in Hong Kong (CUHK) on Friday, according to a report by Citizen News.

CUHK has not yet made a statement on the development.

The removal of Chen’s work is the last step in the June 4, 1989 date and is the last step for individuals or organizations involved in the sensitive incident.

Authorities have strongly warned that a national security law imposed by China in Hong Kong is being used by human rights activists to oppress civil society, imprison pro-democracy campaigns and curtail basic freedoms.

Authorities say the law has restored order and stability in the wake of mass street protests in 2019. They stressed that freedom of expression and other rights remain the same and that prosecutions are not political.

China has never reported on the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Officials reported about 300 deaths, but rights groups and witnesses say there could be thousands of deaths.

On Thursday, the University of Hong Kong dismantled and removed a statue known as the Pillar of Shame, one of the few public memorabilia left in the former British colony to remember the 1989 repression that is a taboo subject in mainland China, where it cannot. publicly remembered.

When the state returned to power in China in 1997, it was a key symbol of the vast freedoms promised to Hong Kong.

Traditionally, Hong Kong has held the largest annual vigil in the world to celebrate the repression in Tiananmen Square.

Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot, who created the statue, said in a statement that he was “completely shocked” that he would “claim compensation for the damage” to his private property.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Galschiot’s removal of a “Crime Against Democracy”.