By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters] – A statue commemorating pro-democray protesters that were murdered in China’s Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 was sculpted by a Danish sculptor. He has requested immunity from a Hong Kong security law to allow him to return the statue to Denmark.

Jens Galschiot lent the 8-metre-high, 2-tonne statue “Pillar of Shame”, to the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China for a lifetime.

For more than twenty years the University of Hong Kong has had this statue on display, which depicts many torn or twisted bodies. The university demanded that the Alliance be removed from its grounds after it was disbanded with members of the national security group.

Galschiot said Friday that the statue is worth approximately $1.4 million and that he’d be happy to send it back to Denmark. However, he felt his presence in Hong Kong was essential for the complicated operation to work.

He said that the city and university authorities needed to cooperate for technical assistance and roadblocks, permits, and other issues.

Galschiot also asked for assurances that Galschiot would not face prosecution under the broad national security law, which Beijing imposed in 2020 to punish subversion, secession and collusion by foreign forces.

Galschiot said that “I understand from the news that the Hong Kong introduction of new security legislation means there’s a legal basis to arrest foreign nationals engaging in critical activities against China.”

Removal of the statue “will result in activities and media coverage which could be seen as critical of China.” This means that I must get assurances from my employer and myself that we will not face prosecution.

The University, the Security Bureau of the Government and the Immigration Department didn’t immediately reply to our requests for comment.

Alliance was given a time limit by the university to remove the statue. This deadline expired one month ago. The university stated at that time it sought legal counsel on how to dispose of it.

Western governments and Democratic activists say that security laws are a way to shut down dissent, and set Hong Kong on an authoritarian track. Chinese officials and the Chinese city government insist Hong Kong still follows the law. Individual rights and freedoms in Hong Kong are intact.