Hong Kong’s swanky new M+ museum is all set to open on Friday amid controversy over politics and censorship. The M+ museum is also Asia’s largest gallery with a billion-dollar collection. It is spread across 183,000 square feet (17,000 square meters), has 33 galleries and over 6,400 works in its collection.

The collection ranges from modern and contemporary art to architecture and moving images.

Designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, M+ aims to put Asia on the global map for art. It was built to rival London’s Modern Tate and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

However, the museum received flak for censorship after it decided not to display a piece by Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei. This decision was taken after pro-Beijing politicians said that it was “spreading hatred against China” and could violate the city’s sweeping national security law.

On its website, M+ replaced the digital image of the work with its logo.

The work by Ai, titled “Study of Perspective: Tian’anmen (1997),” depicts Ai raising a middle finger at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

The Square where a crackdown by the People’s Liberation Army on pro-democracy protesters on June 4, 1989, killed hundreds.

Some, however, believe that the artwork’s removal may be justified.

“It is self-censorship, but maybe it is survival, too, for M+. They need to balance what is important and what they can get away with,” said John Batten, president of the International Art Critics Hong Kong.

“And because this particular photograph has been such a lightning rod of criticism … maybe we should just put it aside for a while.”

While Tiananmen Square’s image was censored, his other works – “Study of Perspective”-  that feature middle fingers aimed at the White House, the Swiss parliament and the Mona Lisa are still on the official website of the museum.

Ai has criticized M+ over its decision to censor his work.

“Under the current National Security Law, I think Hong Kong is facing a very dramatic political change,” Ai said in an interview with The Associated Press from Cambridge, England. “So the freedom of speech (can) no longer be performed in a normal way, but rather under severe censorship.

“So I don’t think the museum … with this kind of condition can still have this ambition to become one of the world’s most advanced cultural facilities.”

M+ has insisted that it is only acting in accordance with the law.

“This is the first contemporary museum in Hong Kong, so therefore, I want to ensure that the message is clear so that people don’t think that we are above the law,” Henry Tang, chairman of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Board, said at the museum’s opening ceremony on Thursday, ahead of the public viewing.

“This is the first principle that I always emphasize, particularly in the past, (as) there were some controversies regarding whether some exhibits might be in violation of law.”

(With inputs from Associated Press)