The student union at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is holding an exhibition to mark the first anniversary of a five-day campus clash between pro-democracy protesters and police, but some material has been blacked out after the university warned it could breach the national security law.
The exhibition, Never Forgive, Never Forget, showcases pictures from the clashes as well as a timeline of events and accounts from arrested CUHK students.
CUHK in a statement earlier this month warned against the use of potentially illegal content in the exhibition and promotional materials.
Owen Au, chairman of the student union’s provisional executive committee, said university officials voiced concern on multiple occasions in the past week that the exhibition could violate the national security law and a law against sedition.
Slogans and phrases that were deemed sensitive have been edited out of the exhibits, but the promotional poster has not been edited nor taken down from the student union’s Facebook page.
Shanny, a second year journalism student from CUHK, told HKFP she wanted to see the accounts of people involved in the clash. “I feel disappointed that the university has not taken into account the students’ will to express themselves freely,” said Shanny.
A street booth was set up outside the exhibition for the public to write cards and letters to arrested CUHK students.
“We’re here to remind Hongkongers and CU students that we should not forget what happened last year on November 11 in the CUHK,” said Edward Ma, secretary of the provisional executive committee.
“[This] event is very peaceful, as you can see… so I don’t understand why the administrative officers have shown a lot of concern they have never shown before,” said Au. “The freedom that we can organise such events will be narrowed down,” he added.
Additional reporting: Kelly Ho.
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