香港大、天安門追悼スローガンに覆い

【香港ＡＦＰ＝時事】香港大学は１月２９日、構内に大きく書かれていた１９８９年の天安門事件の犠牲者を追悼するスローガンを金属板で覆い隠した。（写真は香港大学の構内で、天安門事件の犠牲者を追悼するスローガンを覆い隠す作業員）
　ＡＦＰの記者は、「冷血に斬殺された殉教者の英雄的精神は永遠に生き続ける、悪に打ち勝つ民主主義の炎が消されることは決してない」と書かれたスローガンを、建設作業員が覆う様子を目撃。
　現地メディアによると、スローガンは事件直後に香港大の学生が書いたもので、塗り替えられながら３０年以上にわたって構内に残されていた。
　大学では、学生の代表が追悼の意を込めて白文字を塗り直すことが毎年恒例の儀式になっていた。
　大学側は、スローガンの文字が永久に消去されるのかというＡＦＰの質問に応じなかった。
　中国当局は学校で「愛国心」を育成することが必要であると強調しており、国家安全維持法（国安法）では天安門事件の犠牲者への追悼も含め、当局に異議を唱えることは事実上有罪となる。
　香港大は先月、天安門事件で軍に殺害された人々を追悼する記念像を構内から撤去している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/02/01-11:05）

Hong Kong's oldest university covered up one of the last public tributes to the deadly 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on Saturday, as Beijing continues to muzzle dissent in the financial hub.
Hong Kong was the only place in China where mass remembrance of Tiananmen was tolerated, but authorities have driven such activities underground after imposing a sweeping national security law on the city.
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) last month removed a famous statue commemorating pro-democracy protesters killed by Chinese troops around Tiananmen Square.
At least two other local universities removed artworks in public areas marking the crackdown that same week.
On Saturday, a large slogan painted on an HKU campus bridge mourning the Tiananmen martyrs that had escaped the earlier censorship was blocked with metal sheets.
An AFP reporter saw construction workers covering the calligraphy, which read: The heroic spirit of martyrs slaughtered in cold blood will live forever, the fire of democracy that overcomes evil will never be put out.
Created by HKU students shortly after the crackdown, it had adorned the campus for more than three decades according to local media.
The calligraphy birthed a campus ritual with students leaders annually repainting the words in white to symbolise mourning.
HKU did not immediately respond to AFP's questions on whether the words will be permanently erased.
But a spokesperson told reporters that the university regularly conducts maintenance works at various locations and facilities, with the above site being one such project.
Hong Kong's universities, ranked among the best in Asia, had long been free of the political censorship that pervades mainland campuses.
But Beijing has begun remoulding Hong Kong in its own image following huge and often violent democracy protests in 2019.
The national security law has effectively criminalised dissent including commemorating Tiananmen with authorities stressing the need for schools to foster patriotism.
An annual candlelight vigil to mark the June 4 crackdown has been banned for the past two years, with officials citing both security and pandemic fears.
Leaders of the now-disbanded group organising the vigil have been charged with subversion, and authorities have shut down a Tiananmen museum formerly run by the group.
After dismantling the Pillar of Shame Tiananmen statue last month, HKU said the decision was based on external legal advice and risk assessment for the best interest of the University.