More Tiananmen Memorials Disappear

The Goddess of Democracy is no longer at this spot at CUHK

Following the dismantling of the Pillar of Shame at the University of Hong Kong, two other tertiary institutions also took down memorials of Tiananmen late last night.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong took down a statue which is a replica of the Goddess of Democracy, which has stood on the campus since 2010, while Lingnan University took down a wall relief memorialising the crackdown.

Students held a vigil for the statue this afternoon

Both artworks were done by sculptor Chen Weiming, a Chinese-born New Zealand citizen who now lives in the United States.

In a statement, CUHK noted it had never approved a 2010 student union request to place the statue on campus and that its reasoning for the decision was a matter of public record.

"Following an internal assessment... CUHK has removed the statue," the statement said. "The university never authorised the display of the statue on its campus, and no organisation has claimed responsibility for its maintenance and management."

So if the university never approved the statue to be on campus in 2010, why did it take 11 years to remove it? Weak argument.

It added the two groups responsible for placing the statue on campus -- the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, and its own student union -- had been disbanded.

Staff clean the spot where the statue stood

The alliance was forced to shut down, while CUHK cut ties with the student union in February and eight months later it disbanded. As if this reinforces its reasoning to remove the statue.

One fourth year student surnamed Woo was shocked to find the statue was gone.

"It is even more shocking that the government is afraid of a statue ... under these uncertain times, nothing is guaranteed and you never know when the last politically sensitive items will be removed," Woo said. 

CUHK students later held a vigil for the Goddess of Democracy on Friday afternoon, laying white flowers on printed pictures of the statue in the area where it stood. Others held drawings of the statue that said: "Missing. Have you seen her?" The word "mourn" was also spelled out with candles. 

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Lingnan University said its decision followed a recent review of items on campus that could pose legal or safety threats.

A relief about Tiananmen by Chen is now gone

"In the best interests of the university, the items in question have been cleared, or removed and stored appropriately," the spokesman said.

Aside from the relief, the university also painted over a wall painting of the Goddess of Democracy near the student union office with grey paint on Friday morning. The surrounding area was cordoned off between 7am and 9am, according to a students' representative.

Eric Tong Kin-lok, chairman of the ad hoc administrative committee of Lingnan University's student union, said the relief was dismantled with a circular saw into four pieces before being moved into a storage room.

"We strongly condemn the university's attempt to remove history," he said. "The university did not consult us before and did not even notify us."

Some students remarked that the Goddess of Democracy was a landmark for them to meet up. "We would say meet at the Goddess of Democracy, not the MTR station," one said, 

This wall painting was painted over in grey paint

Tong added that university security guards shone flashlights at students who were attempting to film the removal process, and also noted down their student ID details.

In 2010, Chen gave both the statue and the relief to the now-defunct alliance after being barred from entering Hong Kong, just two days before the candlelight vigil.

The Goddess of Democracy was subsequently displayed in Victoria Park that year before it was transported to the CUHK campus. Meanwhile the relief was displayed in several universities before it was finally placed in Lingnan University with permission of the administration. 

What's next? I'm too afraid to ask and find out.

We keep mourning what we have lost, and this year, it was a lot.