“For so many Hong Kongers, like myself, Tiananmen was our political and democratic baptism,” says Chu. “And as the public rituals and symbols around 89 have been criminalized and banned in Hong Kong, the risk is not just Hong Kong becoming like just another mainland city, but rather Hong Kong becoming like Xinjiang and Tibet.”
He believes there is little chance of Hong Kong recovering the freedoms it once enjoyed. “I am heartbroken to see this – for more than 30 years, Hong Kong kept the flame and served as the guardian and conscience for not just the Chinese people but also for the world about what transpired on June 4.”
When we spoke in October, Galschiøt was pessimistic about the territory’s future. “You cannot call Hong Kong a free country now,” he explained. “They will grab more and more of its freedoms and turn it into mainland China – or even worse. It’s a crime because they promised one country, two systems. Now it seems it will be one country, one system.”
He was hopeful, though, that the statue will live on. He is currently looking to find a new home for it in “Washington, DC, or maybe Europe”. Meanwhile, its story – and the lives and hopes bound up with it – will endure. Symbols, like ideals, cannot easily be snuffed out.
“We cannot lose,” he told me. “Because when you try to destroy art, you make it stronger. We will never die. If you crush a symbol, you create a new symbol. And we’re not destroyed – yet.”
The University of Hong Kong were contacted for comment but did not respond.
