Pillar of Shame faces removal from HKU: Reports

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is reportedly planning to remove from campus the Pillar of Shame, a sculpture that commemorates those who died on June 4, 1989 in Beijing.

The monument was created by a Danish artist and gifted to the now-defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China.

The Alliance, along with core members, are now charged with inciting subversion, while national security police have also frozen assets belonging to the group days after members voted to dissolve the organisation.

In a statement, HKU said it reviewed risk management measures and facility usage on campus from time to time, and declined to comment on media reports that it would be taken away.

“The University…will not respond to speculative reports,” its spokesperson said.

The statue has sat on the campus since 1997, and students used to have a tradition of cleaning it every year on June 4.