page_title: Goddess of Democracy (Hong Kong)
section_title: Times Square incident
hierarchical_section_title: Goddess of Democracy (Hong Kong) / Times Square incident
caption_attribution_description: 民主女神像
context_page_description: Hong Kong's Goddess of Democracy is a 6.4-metre faux bronze statue sculpted by Chen Weiming, inspired by the original 10-metre tall Goddess of Democracy. The original foam and papier-mâché statue was erected by the Chinese pro-democracy movement in Tiananmen Square at the end of May 1989, and destroyed by soldiers clearing the protesters from Tiananmen square on June 4, 1989.
  Three successive political controversies surrounded the statue in 2010 in the backdrop to the twenty-first anniversary of the suppression of the Tiananmen pro-democracy movement. Firstly, it was seized by the Hong Kong police at a street rally at the public open space in Times Square, Causeway Bay on the grounds that the display violated safety regulations, which was, according to the protesters, a trumped up charge. Secondly, the sculptor was denied entry into Hong Kong on 2 June, when he journeyed to Hong Kong to examine the sculpture for possible damage whilst in police custody. Thirdly, the erection of the statue on the campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong was denied by university authorities, to the ire of the student leadership.
context_section_description: On 29 May 2010, Hong Kong police seized a statue and a six-metre-long relief – named 天安門大屠殺 (Tiananmen Massacre) – the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China (the Alliance) erected in Times Square ahead of the 21st anniversary of 6 June Tiananmen Square protest; organisers were arrested for lacking a licence to organise "public entertainment". A second statue was erected following the anniversary march to commemorate 4 June pro-democracy movement, but was also seized by police citing the same Places of Public Entertainment Ordinance. Thirteen people who had been standing guard over the statue were arrested by police. Both statues were replicas of the 1989 Tiananmen Square statue – one statue was 6.4-metre bronze and the other a 2.2 m rendering in white plastic.
  The seizures were controversial. Although the management of Times Square said it preferred activities without political elements, it had not complained before police intervened. The police force said it was not responsible for enforcing the public entertainment law, so it had no statistics concerning it; the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said only seven prosecutions had been made under the law since the beginning of last year. A government spokesman said that the art pieces would be returned "under condition that the police's relevant requirements will be followed." The Leisure and Cultural Services Department stipulated insurance and approval from registered engineers to guarantee that any object taller than 1.7 metres used on 4 June met safety standards. Activists refused the pre-conditions, and Alliance Deputy chairman Lee Cheuk-yan threatened that North Point police station, where the pieces were being held, would be surrounded at 6 pm on 3 June by citizens demanding their release. After the statues and activists were hauled away, the Alliance displayed a 4.5-metre painting of the Goddess of Democracy in Times Square; several activists dressed like the statue.
  Apple Daily reported that similar observances with props were held at Times Square the previous year, and passed without police harassment. The police said that they had acted on a request from the Environment Department on 29 May; the Home Affairs Bureau said it was not notified ahead of the action. After several hours of negotiations with leaders of the Alliance, Police released the statues on 1 June notwithstanding activists' refusal to undertake not to display the statues within the vicinity of Times Square again. The police released it as 'a goodwill gesture', saying that they understood the organisers' need to have the statue set up for the vigil in the evening of 4 June; Loyalist former President of LegCo, Rita Fan, citing legal experts, said the unprecedented action of the police was improper. However, Police defended their action, saying the force had handled the situation, including the return of the art pieces, in a "lawful, reasonable, and sensible manner".
  Civil rights groups and Pan-democrats reacted angrily to the seizure, warning that freedom of expression was under threat; Chinese Human Rights Defenders called the government actions "an unprecedented act of interference with the territory's commemorative activities." Public anger over the seizures, and fears of political repression, were widely cited as a direct cause for the record 150,000 participants (or 113,000 according to the police) to attend 4 June vigil. Political commentator Michael Chugani said that the police's reason for seizing two replica Goddess of Democracy statues was unconvincing, and that the public had a right to know from how far up the command chain the heavy-handed order came. He said that this challenge to free expression in Hong Kong should not be conflated with the Tiananmen issue. The LegCo Food Safety and Environmental Health Committee of LegCo called an extraordinary meeting for 21 June, the FEHD and the Home Affairs Bureau were asked to be present to account for their actions, their reasons, and the identity of the chief decision-maker for the confiscations. Alt
caption: White plastic Goddess of Democracy replica
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