Taipei, June 4 (CNA) Several hundred people gathered at National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei Saturday evening to remember the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, China that took place 33 years ago.
The vigil for those killed and injured during the Chinese military's violent clearing of pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square from the small hours of June 3, 1989, to the morning of June 4 was organized by the New School for Democracy (NSD) and other human rights groups including Amnesty International Taiwan and the Taiwan Association for Human Rights.
Flags showing support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy movement and Tibet's independence were seen flying among the crowd as a three-meter replica of Danish artist Jens Galschiøt's "Pillar of Shame" statue -- the original of which stood at the University of Hong Kong until the city's authorities ordered its demolition in December 2021 -- was unveiled.
In pre-recorded remarks broadcast at the vigil, Galschiøt, who made the original Pillar of Shame to honor the victims of the massacre, which is also known as the June 4 Incident, said he was looking forward to seeing the replica unveiled in Taiwan so that the memory of what happened in Beijing in 1989 was kept alive.
Galschiøt said it was now impossible to have any public commemorative events in Hong Kong because of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law. "This is even banned to have a single light, a candle, candlelight in your hand."
Hong Kong's pro-democracy groups had previously held a large-scale vigil in the city's Victoria Park every year on June 4 from 1990 to commemorate the victims of Tiananmen Square.
However, the authorities in Hong Kong banned the event in 2020, citing COVID-19 concerns, and have reportedly declined to allow Victoria Park to be rented to the public on June 4 in the years since.
In view of this, Galschiøt urged people around the world who were concerned with the human rights situations in China and Hong Kong to "take over" and continue remembering the tragedy.
According to the NSD, the replica, which was produced using 3D printing technology, will remain at the site until June 12.
Zhou Feng-suo (周鋒鎖), a former student leader during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also said in a pre-recorded video that it was important to continue remembering the sacrifices of protesters.
"We as survivors, it is our duty to remember them," he said. "The opportunity we have today is to keep them alive, especially the ideals that they sacrificed for -- freedom and democracy."
The vigil, which began at 6:40 p.m., also included dozens of short remarks by Taiwanese and foreign human rights campaigners, exiled Hong Kong protesters and politicians, as well as Taiwanese lawmakers throughout the evening.
