Hong Kong students remember Tiananmen crackdown

Students at the University of Hong Kong on Thursday held a moment of silence at the Pillar of Shame, a sculpture commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen crackdown 31 years ago. At 2 p.m. (0600GMT), students gathered in front of the monument on the campus to pay their silent tribute, in remembrance of those who died in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989.

In a yearly tradition, the students washed the statue after the moment of silence. The Pillar of Shame was created in 1996 by Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot, it was brought to the campus by students after the annual June 4 candlelight vigil in Victoria Park in 1997 and has been kept at the university since.

Its 50 painfully twisted bodies and faces symbolize oppression and the people who were killed in the military crackdown. At the statue's base, students put a banner addressing the Chinese president that read "Xi Jinping, Stop Abusing the COVID-19 Crisis to Crackdown Freedom of Expression."

In recent years, Hong Kong University students have arranged their own events to mark the Tiananmen anniversary, staying away from the city's annual candlelight vigil because they say they disagree on Hong Kong's responsibility for and reliance on democracy in mainland China.

"But we agree that they should have their freedom of assembly," president of the Hong Kong University Students' Union Edy Jeh added with regard to organisers of the annual vigil in the semi-autonomous territory. The usual vigil, which drew thousands of participants in Victoria Park over the past decades, is not expected this year because of restrictions over large gatherings due to virus outbreaks concerns. However, smaller gatherings are expected in Hong Kong to mark the anniversary of 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.