The “Pillar of Shame,” 26 feet high, had stood on the University of Hong Kong grounds since 1997 “as a memorial to the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.” The sculpture by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt included an inscription that said, “The old cannot kill the young forever.”
But “around midnight” local time on Thursday, December 23, 2021, “yellow construction barriers were erected around the statue and the sounds of cracking and demolition were heard as the sculpture was removed under the cover of darkness,” CNN reported here.
“A witness said Thursday morning the site of the sculpture is now empty and students have been seen crying on campus following the removal. CNN agreed to not disclose the name of this witness because the person feared retribution from authorities,” CNN said.
If you were somehow able to confront Xi Jinping about it, he’d probably allude to the reuniting of Hong Kong (a former British colony) with China, and draw parallels with the removal of Confederate statutes from public property in America.
And if you brought up Tiananmen Square, where Chinese Army tanks literally crushed student pro-democracy demonstrators, he might reply “Kent State,” where Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire on students protesting the Vietnam War.
But it isn’t the same. America’s worst behavior may sometimes superficially resemble Communist China’s best behavior. But at Kent State, the memorial to the victims (photo below; details here), while not popular with successive university administrators, wasn’t torn down by the government; and remembrances aren’t suppressed.
That’s the difference between being free or not free, and it’s all the difference in the world.
