London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Sculptor of dismantled 'Pillar of Shame’ says damage symbolic of Hong Kong struggle

Sculptor of dismantled 'Pillar of Shame’ says damage symbolic of Hong Kong struggle

The sculptor of a statue commemorating the victims of China's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown said on Friday that its removal from a Hong Kong university was "brutal," but any damage would be symbolic of recent changes in the city under Chinese rule.
The eight-meter sculpture of anguished human torsos was one of the few remaining public memorials in the former British colony to remember the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters -- a taboo topic in mainland China, where it cannot be publicly commemorated.

The University of Hong Kong on Wednesday dismantled and removed the two-ton copper artwork, known as Pillar of Shame, from the campus where it has been for more than two decades, citing legal and other concerns.

"Of course, I could repair everything, but maybe it would be nice to have some damage on it," Danish sculptor Jens Galschiot told Reuters in an interview.

"It sounds strange, but it is also a symbol. This is what they're doing to ... Hong Kong."

The university could not be reached for comment late on Friday.

The statue was already seen by democracy activists as a key symbol of the wide-ranging freedoms promised to Hong Kong at its 1997 return to Chinese rule, which differentiated the global financial hub from the rest of China.

The city has traditionally held the largest annual vigils in the world to commemorate the Tiananmen Square crackdown. But it has taken an authoritarian turn after China imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 in response to prolonged and often-violent pro-democracy protests the year before.

Human rights activists say the law is being used to suppress civil society, jail democracy campaigners and curb basic freedoms. Authorities say it has restored stability and insist individual rights are intact.

Loud noises from power tools and chains rose from a closed off area for hours on Wednesday night before workers were seen carrying out separate parts of the statue and winching them up on a crane towards a waiting shipping container. HKU said on Thursday it had put them in storage.

"It is brutal to move it the way they did," Galschiot said. "Nobody would accept it. Nobody should do that kind of thing. It's really unfair."

Communist Party rulers in Beijing have never provided a full account of the 1989 violence in and around Tiananmen Square. Officials gave a death toll of about 300, but rights groups and witnesses say thousands may have been killed.

Two other Hong Kong universities removed Tiananmen monuments on Friday.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×