More Tiananmen massacre memorials removed in Hong Kong

HONG KONG — Universities successful Hong Kong are removing memorials to the bloody suppression of the 1989 Chinese pro-democracy question centered connected Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong aboriginal Friday greeting took down the “Goddess of Democracy,” a statue based connected a fig created by creation students and brought to the quadrate soon earlier the crackdown successful which hundreds, if not thousands, of radical were killed.

The removal of the monuments testifies to the ruling Communist Party’s efforts to erase the bloody events from the nationalist consciousness. It besides comes arsenic the enactment snuffs retired antiauthoritarian challenges successful Hong Kong to its rule.

On Thursday, a monument astatine the University of Hong Kong was dismantled, wiping retired 1 of the city’s past remaining places of nationalist commemoration of the crackdown.

The authorities has ne'er provided a fig connected casualties and the pro-democracy question remains a taboo taxable successful mainland China. Hong Kong and Macao, the 2 semi-autonomous territories, were the lone places connected Chinese ungraded wherever commemorations of the crackdown were allowed until authorities banned yearly candlelight vigils for 2 consecutive years.

In a statement, Chinese University confirmed the removal of the statue and said it had ne'er authorized its show and that nary enactment has claimed work for its attraction and management.

Separately, Lingnan University besides removed a bas alleviation memorial partition show dedicated to the representation of the June 4 movement.

The university’s determination was predicated connected the “overall extortion of the assemblage assemblage aft a caller assessment,” government-run Hong Kong Radio Television reported.