HK activists erect Tiananmen democracy statue

HONG KONG — Hong Kong pro-democracy groups on Saturday erected a "Goddess of Democracy" statue ahead of the city's annual vigil to commemorate the bloody 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.The three-metre (10-foot) white statue was set up in a busy shopping district by the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, in the run up to the June 4 vigil which is expected to draw tens of thousands of people."When the whole China is silent about this episode, we in Hong Kong must speak up," said its chairman and prominent lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan. The group is also planning to stage a march on Sunday to commemorate the incident.The statue -- a replica of one built by students in Tiananmen Square in 1989 -- was erected without controversy this year, unlike last year when two statues were confiscated and 13 activists were arrested by the police.One of the 13 was charged in court later for allegedly failing to get approval to display the statue under public entertainment laws, which activists criticised as an abuse of law. The court will deliver its verdict on June 24.The United States-based sculptor of the statues was also deported from Hong Kong last year after he flew in to check on the condition of the statue.Hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed in central Beijing on the night of June 3-4, 1989, when the military violently crushed six weeks of student-led democracy protests on Tiananmen Square.Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese rule in 1997 but maintains semi-autonomous status from China and enjoys civil liberties not seen on the mainland. Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved. More »

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