How Tiananmen Square's 'Goddess of Democracy' became a symbol of defiance
In preparation for the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown on Tuesday, a white statue of a woman has been relocated from a Hong Kong university to Victoria Park, the site of an annual candlelight vigil commemorating the incident. More than 500 miles away, in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, an almost identical sculpture has been installed inside the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
In the West, meanwhile, from Washington, DC, to Toronto, the same figure stands -- her hair caught motionless in the wind, her raised hands clutching a flaming torch. This is the "Goddess of Democracy." And 30 years ago, in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, the original was toppled and destroyed by the Chinese military in shocking scenes broadcast around the world.
