Lithuanian foreign minister criticises Chinese tourist who tossed pro-Hong Kong memorial across pilgrimage site
- Linas Linkevicius hits out at ‘shameful’ behaviour as investigation into Hill of Crosses incident begins
- Video posted to Twitter shows visitor proclaiming, ‘We have done something good today’ after throwing away cross carrying protest slogans
Lithuania has announced an investigation into “shameful” behaviour after a video showed a cross bearing pro-Hong Kong democracy protest slogans at a Christian pilgrimage plucked from the ground and tossed away by a Chinese tourist.
A video showing two Mandarin-speaking women on the Hill of Crosses memorial near the city of Siauliai caught the attention of senior government officials. One woman was seen picking the cross up as the other encouraged her to “throw it away”.
“[This] shameful, disgraceful act of vandalism is currently under investigation by Lithuanian authorities,” Linas Linkevicius, foreign minister of Lithuania, wrote on his official Twitter page on Sunday. “Such behaviour can’t and won’t be tolerated.”
On Sunday, police officers who visited the site to assess the incident after examining videos and photos launched an inquiry, local media said.
The dispute between supporters of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement and pro-government voices that prevail in mainland China has escalated to diplomatic levels in a number of countries, including Lithuania. Beijing had not publicly responded to the Lithuanian foreign ministry as of noon on Monday.