“After the Chinese communists in Hong Kong national security law they have destroyed the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of expression,” Chen Weiming told Reuters. “They want the true story of the bloody crushing of the insurgency gone. They don’t want there to be other views than their own.”
No permission
The city council did not respond to the press agency’s question whether the three universities were ordered to remove the monuments. The University of Hong Kong insists there was no external pressure on them to remove the statue Pillar of Shame.
“We were not told to take anything away,” driver Arthur Li told the BBC. He states that permission was never given for the posting of that image. According to him, that would now be in a state of disrepair and, moreover, not beautiful.
Crown Colony
Hong Kong was a British Crown Colony until 1997. That year, the city and its immediate surroundings were returned to China by agreement.
China had promised that Hong Kong would retain its autonomy, its judicial system and democratic governance. It has not kept that promise. Beijing’s security law in Hong Kong last year was supposed to end the demonstrations of the pro-democracy movement. The pursuit of secession, foreign interference and subversive activities have since been banned. People who are arrested can be prosecuted under Chinese law.
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