Tiananmen Square's 'Pillar of Shame' statue replica to be unveiled in Taiwan

A three-meter tall replica of the "Pillar of Shame" statue honouring the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident will be unveiled at a commemorative vigil in Taiwan on Saturday evening, local media reported.

Ahead of commemorations for the Tiananmen Square incident this weekend, this statue will be unveiled in Taipei after funds were raised by New School for Democracy (NSD) to help develop a copy of the sculpture made by a Danish artist, Taiwan Focus reported.

Tseng Chien-yuan, Chairman of the NSD, said the focal point of the vigil will be the unveiling of the replica of the statue that was previously erected at the University of Hong Kong.

Last December, Workers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) had removed the Tiananmen Massacre statue, widely known as the "Pillar of Shame," after the university had said the statue must go.

This monument was created by a Danish artist in memory of those killed in the Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing in 1989.

Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch's China Director, had said slammed the Chinese government for being afraid of a statute.

"The world's second-largest economy. Largest standing army. Permanent member of the UN Security Council. Nevertheless, China govt afraid of a statute and what it represents, stealing it away at night, under wraps...pathetic," Richardson had tweeted in December.

The Tiananmen incident was precipitated by the peaceful gatherings of students, workers, and others in Beijing's Tiananmen Square and other Chinese cities in April 1989, calling for freedom of expression, accountability, and an end to corruption. The government responded to the intensifying protests in late May 1989 by declaring martial law.

On June 3 and 4, the military opened fire and killed untold numbers of peaceful protesters and bystanders. In Beijing, some citizens attacked army convoys and burned vehicles in response to the military's violence.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Chinese government should acknowledge and take responsibility for the massacre of pro-democracy protesters in June 1989.

The authorities should immediately allow commemorations of the occasion in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and cease censoring discussions of the crackdown, according to the rights watchdog.

( With inputs from ANI )