A replica of the Goddess of Democracy - an icon of the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing - found a new home at Chinese University, at least temporarily, and without violence last night.
After attending the June 4 candle-light vigil in Victoria Park, hundreds of cheering young people rushed to the university, where the statue and a sculpture related to the Tiananmen crackdown were erected on campus despite opposition from officials.
'We were told that the university would not block us from entering the campus,' said former student leader Li Yiu-kee, who is now an executive member of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China.
'Although it is up to Chinese University's students to decide whether it can be displayed there permanently, the mainstream voice in the campus is that it can be done. I hope university management will heed that.'
A row broke out between university management and the public after officials rejected a request from students to permanently display the 6.4-metre statue on campus. The officials said that doing so would breach the university's political neutrality.
After students, staff, alumni and members of the public expressed outrage at the ruling, managers last night backed down and trucks carrying the statue and sculpture were allowed onto the campus.