After seizing a large statue dedicated to the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, Hong Kong authorities yesterday denied entry to its creator, an opposition legislator said, in what democracy activists describe as growing censorship in this semiautonomous Chinese territory.
Chen Weiming (陳微明) was deported early yesterday after arriving on a flight from Los Angeles late on Tuesday, said opposition lawmaker James To Kun Sun (涂謹申), who met Chen at the airport. To said the US-based New Zealand national wanted to inspect his statue for possible damage.
The deportation came after Hong Kong police seized Chen’s Goddess of Democracy statue and his large carving depicting the June 1989 suppression of student protesters from a sidewalk on Saturday and arrested 13 activists protecting the two works of art.
The activists were freed on bail later on Saturday and police returned the two pieces on Tuesday.
“We are very annoyed. Why is Hong Kong denying him entry for political reasons? He is a very humble sculptor,” To said in a phone interview.
Hong Kong’s Immigration Department didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
Holly Warren, a spokeswoman for the New Zealand Consulate-General in Hong Kong, said she didn’t have immediate comment.
The 6.4m-tall Goddess of Democracy statue, which features a woman holding a torch, is based on a similar one that was displayed on Tiananmen Square during the 1989 protests. The original was toppled by tanks during the military eviction.
The recent actions by the Hong Kong government are alarming to local activists because they are wary of losing the right to stage the only open commemorative activities for the Tiananmen crackdown on Chinese soil. While the massacre is still taboo in China proper, former British colony Hong Kong is promised freedom of speech as part of its special political status under Chinese rule.
Officials have said they will allow an annual candlelight vigil to go ahead as scheduled tomorrow. The vigil typically draws tens of thousands of people.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS