Two more universities in Hong Kong removed the memorial of the Tiananmen massacre ‘Goddess of Democracy’ monuments from their campus sites on Friday.
Earlier this week, the University of Hong Kong didmantled and removed an eight-meter tall "pillar of shame" statue from its campus site where for more than two decades, commemoration over pro-democracy protesters killed during China’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 were held.
However, the 6.4 meters (20 foot) tall bronze “Goddess of Democracy” statue was removed before dawn.
The University said in a statement that an "unauthorized statue” had been taken away.
Unlike mainland China, where authorities ban any memorials or public commemoration of June 4, Hong Kong was the only city that had allowed public commemoration of the Tiananmen Square protests.
In 1989, Beijing’s Tiananmen Square became the focus for demonstrations calling for greater political freedoms. Thousands of people camped for weeks in the square, but in June the military moved in and troops opened fire.
Hong Kong returned from British to Chinese rule in 1997 and was promised wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms by China under a so-called "one country, two systems" arrangement.
Authorities have been clamping down in Hong Kong under a China-imposed national security law that human wide-rankings say is being used to suppress civil society, jail democracy campaigners, and curb basic freedoms.
Chinese and Hong Kong authorities say the security laws have restored order and stability after mass protests in 2019, and that fundamental rights and freedoms are still respected.
