The Marmot’s Hole

The Dong-A Ilbo reports that Chinese authorities ordered the removal of a statue of Korean independence activist (or terrorist, depending on your point of view) Ahn Jung-geun 10 days after it was erected near Harbin Station. Harbin Station, of course, is where Ahn, also known by his Catholic name of Thomas, popped a cap into former Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi in 1909.
The 4.5-meter-tall statue of Ahn was unveiled on Jan. 16 in a square along Harbin’s central Zhongyang Avenue, some 200~300 meters away from the spot of the assassination. At the foot of the statue is Ahn’s hand-print (minus, of course, a digit), so that the statue could be recognized from long off. The monument was erected by an Ahn Jung-geun remembrance association and a Korean businessman identified by his family name of Lee.
As it would turn out, Lee had gotten permission from the Harbin city authorities to put up the statue in the square, which is in front of a department store in which Lee was investing heavily.
Beijing saw matters differently, however, and not long after the statue was unveiled, the central government ordered that it be covered up and then moved inside the department store. “Statues of foreigners are not permitted,” explained Beijing.
Alas, Tommy Ahn was shut up inside no more than 10 days after he was unveiled to the world.
A businessman who recently came back from Harbin said that upon hearing of the statue, he went to the spot to see it, but was disappointed to find it sequestered in the corner of a department store. He called for the Korean government to exert diplomatic efforts to have Ahn’s statue moved to its original spot.
The Ahn remembrance association, meanwhile, said Harbin was discussing the matter with Beijing.
Interestingly enough, there’s no mention of Ahn to be found anywhere at Harbin Station. After the assassination, the Japanese erected a bust of Ito on the spot where he was killed, but this was removed by the Chinese government following Japan’s defeat in 1945.