Hong Kong police on Friday seized an exhibit in connection with what they said was an attempt to incite subversion, with media reporting that it was a statue commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Media reported that the exhibit was the Pillar of Shame, an 8m tall statue depicting dozens of torn and twisted bodies that commemorates protesters killed in the pro-democracy crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square more than three decades ago.
Police did not give details on the exhibit they said they had seized in Yuen Long District.
Photo: Reuters
“The National Security Department ... conducted searches with a warrant this morning. An exhibit related to an ‘incitement to subversion’ case was seized,” police said in a statement.
They did not say who was suspected of wanting to use the statue, which was being kept in storage, to incite subversion.
The seizure comes weeks ahead of the June 4 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Hong Kong had traditionally held the largest annual vigil in the world to commemorate the crackdown, which is taboo to discuss in the rest of China.
The vigil, traditionally held in Victoria Park, was banned beginning in 2020, ostensibly because of COVID-19 restrictions.
The Hong Kong government this week said that sections of Victoria Park would be closed for maintenance.
The 2-tonne copper Pillar of Shame was first exhibited at a Tiananmen Square commemoration in Hong Kong in 1997, the same year Britain returned the territory to China.
In 2021, the University of Hong Kong dismantled and removed the statue “based on external legal advice and risk assessment for the best interest of the university.” It has since been kept in a cargo container on university-owned land.
Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot, who created the work, said he was not informed about its seizure by police.
“This is outrageous. This is my sculpture and nobody has consulted or informed me about anything,” he said in e-mail.
A Hong Kong Security Bureau spokesperson yesterday said that some organizations had attempted to “confuse the public, demand the return of relevant evidence under the guise of artistic freedom, and unreasonably condemn and maliciously smear” the legitimate actions of the police.
The vigil organizer, the Hong Kong Alliance, was disbanded in 2021 after its leaders were arrested and charged with inciting subversion under Hong Kong’s National Security Law, imposed by Beijing in 2020 after turbulent democracy protests.
Authorities have been using the law to clamp down on democracy activity in Hong Kong and about 250 people, including opposition politicians, lawyers and journalists, have been arrested for suspected national security offenses.
Authorities said they are maintaining order necessary for the territory’s prosperity.
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