The sculptor of the Pillar of Shame commemorating June 4 accused municipal councillors of self-censorship for opposing the statue's public display.
Jens Galschiot, who arrived from Denmark yesterday, said: 'They may be afraid of the Beijing reaction.' The 43-year-old sculptor considered opposition to his work a normal reaction.
Praise and damnations were 'a part of art', he said.
Whether the sculpture, which features 50 painfully twisted human bodies, was horrible depended 'on how you look at it', he said.
The clay-made work was a 'symbol' to mark 'our kind of freedom of expression' and the hope of not losing rights, he said.
Galschiot plans to put up 10 to 20 sculptures in various parts of the world, 'just to make sure people are clear on what happened'.