The Queen Victoria statue in Hong Kong's Victoria Park has been concealed with boards and banners by a pro-Beijing group ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit. The group is overseeing celebratory events for the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's handover to China.
After many criticised the move as "petty", the Hong Kong Celebrations Associations-- which had booked the football pitches in park for a science expo between Thursday and Sunday, removed the boards and inflatable banners later. The request to remove the hoardings was made by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, which manages the park.
The statue of Queen Victoria was erected in Hong Kong's Statue Square in 1896 to commemorate the queen's Golden Jubilee, however, it was later moved to Victoria Park in 1955.
District councillor of Wan Chai Clarisse Yeung Suet-ying said she saw two rows of boards in front of and behind the bronze statue on Tuesday afternoon at the main entrance of the park on Causeway Road, according to South China Morning Post.
An inflatable banner reading "To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" was also set up above the statue. Reports state the statue was completely concealed with boards and banners, however, the association later claimed that it had not intended to obscure it.
Yeung said she was trying to find out why the boards had been put in that particular manner, and hopes the group had not planned to let the boards remain at the park on July 1. The date marks the anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the Chinese sovereignty.
"[If that was the plan,] it was just too petty. They can't even face the city's colonial past," Yeung said.
