Spiderman

HK 'Spiderman' causes traffic chaos with Tiananmen protest

First posted 04:25am (Mla time) June 04, 2005 by Agence France-Presse

HONG KONG -- A protester dressed as the comic book character Spiderman climbed to the top of a giant TV screen on a building at the heart of Hong Kong's financial district Friday in a protest marking the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.

Matt Pearce, an activist with International Action, which campaigns against social injustice in the former British colony, used a ladder to mount the public television before rolling down a massive yellow banner with the message "Justice Must Prevail. Injustice Anywhere is a Threat to Justice Everywhere."

"There is no excuse for killing unarmed, innocent students staging a peaceful demonstration," he said in a statement.

"We believe the Beijing government should publicly admit what happened on June 4, 1989, apologize and pay compensation to the families of victims," he said in the run-up to the 16th anniversary on Saturday.

Hundreds, if not thousands, of unarmed students and demonstrators were gunned down in central Beijing when tanks were sent in to end the six-week long protests. Beijing has refused to acknowledge the massacre.

Pearce's protest caused traffic chaos in the city during rush hour at lunch time with nearly 100 police officers and firemen as well as an ambulance rushing to the scene, blocking the busy main road in the area.

They also inflated a massive mattress on the ground.

Pearce stayed up for nearly two hours before two firemen persuaded him to come down and then arrested him.