Following the backlash, Lam defended the project. She said, “I know that today’s society is full of mistrust, but for this issue, we really do not have any selfish motives and private interests.” She added, “We should not let this cultural issue be politicized.”
Supporters of the project argue that the new cultural institution would increase Hong Kong’s tourism revenue since Beijing’s Palace Museum welcomes more than fourteen million people annually. For Avery Ng, chairman of the League of Social Democrats in Hong Kong, exhibiting loaned works from the Beijing museum is equivalent to “cultural whitewashing by introducing more Chinese history and culture that is perceived to be positive.” Beijing’s Palace Museum is located just north of Tiananmen Square, where troops and tanks killed hundreds of students participating in pro-democracy protests in 1989. In recent demonstrations, protesters have carried models of tanks and paper versions, which they threw at police officers.
Opponents of the project say that the museum might not have been so poorly received by the public if the government had been more transparent. “If you do it in a proper way, well, Hong Kong people appreciate museums. We appreciate art,” Lee Cheuk-yan, a former member of the territory’s legislative council who organized protests against the project last week, said. He added, “But this time, there was no consultation at all. It seems to be a dictation from China, ordering Hong Kong that we should accept this museum without any proper consultation.”
After facing weeks of resistance, organizers of the Hong Kong Palace Museum, which will be built in the West Kowloon Cultural District, initiated a six-week consultation process. However, the announcement also sparked controversy since the public discussions will only focus on the design, operations, and programming and not whether the museum should be built.
With the idea that it will be funded by a $450 million grant from Hong Kong’s Jockey Club, the museum is slated to open in 2022.
