Pillar of Shame: did a piece of Hong Kong history die with sculpture’s removal, or is it a ‘negative icon’ that has overstayed its welcome?

When the Pillar of Shame, a sculpture at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to remember the victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing, was pulled down in the early hours of Thursday and mummified in bubble wrap, a piece of the city’s history died with it, observers said.

Chinese University (CUHK) political scientist Ivan Choy Chi-keung said the removal of the eight-metre pillar could be interpreted by the international community as the end of “one country, two systems”.

Pointing to Hong Kong’s June 4 Tiananmen vigil, held every year until the Covid-19 pandemic struck, Choy said the event indicated the one country, two systems governing policy – under which the city is granted a high degree of autonomy – had been alive and well.