One of city's last Tiananmen Square memorials covered up

[geemong]

One of city's last Tiananmen Square memorials covered up

One of the last public memorials in Hong Kong to those killed in the Tiananmen protests has been covered up.

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The calligraphy - painted on the pavement of a bridge - paid tribute to the pro-democracy protesters killed by Chinese authorities in Beijing in 1989.

It was covered with metal on Saturday by the University of Hong Kong, which called the work routine maintenance.

But its removal comes as Beijing has increasingly been cracking down on political dissent in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong used to be one of few places in China that allowed public commemoration of the Tiananmen protests - a highly sensitive topic in the country.

The Tiananmen Square massacre came amid large-scale demonstrations calling for greater political freedoms.

Thousands of people camped for weeks in the square, but in June 1989 the military moved in and troops opened fire.

The Chinese government says 200 civilians and several dozen security personnel died - but other estimates have ranged from hundreds to as many as 10,000.

Since China has begun tightening its grip over Hong Kong, it has cleared the city of criticism of the ruling Communist party.

Last month, a famous statue at the University of Hong Kong - the Pillar of Shame - was removed. The following day, two more universities in the city took down monuments.