The decision to build a $450m branch of Beijing’s famed Palace Museum in Hong Kong was meant to celebrate this year’s 20th anniversary of the return of the former British colony to Chinese control and boost its struggling tourist industry.
But the highly symbolic project has run into angry opposition from democracy activists, who have attacked the Hong Kong government for failing to consult the public and promoting a political scheme that undermines the autonomy of the territory.
The dispute over the museum underlines the growing tensions between pro- and anti-Beijing forces in Hong Kong, where the civic freedoms guaranteed by the Chinese government have come under increasing threat.