The ruthless campaign by the Chinese government to extinguish all memories of the massacre at Tiananmen Square has now resulted in the removal of the sculpture from the campus of the University of Hong Kong (Outcry as memorial to Tiananmen Square victims removed from Hong Kong University, 23 December). Since many of the countless victims were students, it is appropriate for universities elsewhere to ensure that their bravery and martyrdom is not eradicated from history.
University student unions in the UK, not least at those institutions with many Chinese students, should keep their memory alive by renaming their building or part of it. This is what several did following the murder by the authorities of the black South African anti-apartheid student activist Steve Biko. The Steve Biko Bar at Bradford University closed in 2005 but the student union building at Manchester University (which has the largest student union in the UK) is still named after him. No doubt the chancellor of Oxford University, Chris Patten – who was the last British governor of Hong Kong – will be sympathetic. There is also plenty of space for the erection of a memorial near the Chinese embassy in central London.
Dr Peter van den Dungen
Ex-Bradford University lecturer, Halifax, West Yorkshire
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