Bid to leave tripod in park permanently

The world's heaviest Chinese tripod may be placed on permanent display in Victoria Park, it emerged last night.

The Association for All Sectors on Hong Kong Island for the Celebration of the Handover wants to give the five-tonne tripod to the Urban Council if it goes on permanent display. It was on display at the park yesterday.

Chiang Yu-tui, the association's deputy secretary-general, said: 'The tripod will be stored at the China Merchants warehouse for the time being.' Earlier, the tripod had to be repaired after one of its legs snapped while being loaded on to a lorry in Kennedy Town.

The Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic China wanted to put the sculpture Pillar of Shame, which commemorates the Tiananmen crackdown, on display in the park for three months.

But the council refused permission for the Danish-made sculpture to be displayed through the summer.

Mr Chiang said: 'We feel that they carry totally different meanings. This tripod is to celebrate the unification of Hong Kong to China.