L'Università di Hong Kong (Hku) ha confermato giovedì che la statua che commemora le persone uccise dalle truppe cinesi in piazza Tienanmen a Pechino è stata smantellata e rimossa, dopo 24 anni.
"La decisione sulla vecchia statua si è basata su una consulenza legale esterna e una valutazione del rischio per il migliore interesse dell'Università", ha affermato l'istituzione in un comunicato.
Hong Kong è stato a lungo l'unico luogo in Cina dove è stata tollerata la commemorazione degli eventi di Tienanmen del 1989. Ogni anno gli studenti pulivano la statua installata nel loro campus nel 1997 per onorare le vittime di quegli eventi. Ma Pechino ha impresso il suo marchio autoritario sull'ex colonia britannica dopo le grandi e talvolta violente proteste del 2019, imponendo una legge sulla sicurezza nazionale che vieta tra l'altro la commemorazione di Tiananmen.
A ottobre i funzionari dell'ateneo hanno ordinato la rimozione della scultura raffigurante un groviglio di 50 corpi deformati dal dolore, citando rischi legali non meglio specificati. La statua è stata nascosta alla vista mercoledì sera, prima di essere sbullonata per essere riposta altrove, ha assicurato l'università.
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