China has defended its decision to refuse to renew the work visa of a Financial Times editor in Hong Kong, in a case has drawn concern over free speech in the Chinese territory.
By Associated Press Reporters
October 7 2018 6:13 AM
China has defended its decision to refuse to renew the work visa of a Financial Times editor in Hong Kong, in a case has drawn concern over free speech in the Chinese territory.
The central government “firmly supports” the local government’s rejection of Asia editor Victor Mallet’s visa renewal application, according to a statement from the foreign ministry’s office in Hong Kong.
“No foreign country has any right to interfere,” the office said, in a response to expressions of concern from the UK’s Foreign Office and the US Consulate in the territory.
Mr Mallet is vice president of Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club, which drew criticism from the authorities for hosting a talk by the leader of a now-banned pro-Hong Kong independence party.
Hong Kong was promised semi-autonomy for 50 years as part of its 1997 handover from British rule, allowing it to retain its limited democracy and rights to assembly and free speech which are denied on the Chinese mainland.
Rights groups have called the visa rejection the latest sign of Beijing’s expanding restrictions on the territory, including legal cases brought against pro-democracy legislators and organisers of large-scale anti-government protests in 2014.
The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) asked for “an urgent explanation” as to why Mr Mallet’s visa renewal application was rejected.
“Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected,” the FCO said in a statement.
The US consulate said the rejection was “deeply troubling,” especially since it reflected problems faced by international journalists in mainland China whose visas can be held up or refused because of political considerations.
The Financial Times said in a statement that it was given no reason why Mr Mallet’s application was rejected.
It said: “This is the first time we have encountered this situation in Hong Kong.”
Press Association
Kim Bielenberg The floppy-haired hero of the Brexiteers, Jacob Rees-Mogg, once took exception to a story doing the rounds that he went canvassing for votes in a Bentley with his nanny during an election.
By Alan Fram and Lisa Marcaro, Associated Press Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in as a US Supreme Court justice, hours after the Senate narrowly confirmed his appointment following a battle that rubbed raw the country’s cultural, gender and…
By Sam Blewett, Press Association Members of the Me Too movement voiced outrage after Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed for the US’s top court amid an allegation of sexual assault and fears over abortion rights.
The floppy-haired hero of the Brexiteers, Jacob Rees-Mogg, once took exception to…
Brett Kavanaugh has been sworn in as a US Supreme…
Members of the Me Too movement voiced outrage…
Republican leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate…
The US Senate has confirmed Brett Kavanaugh to…
Protesters have disrupted the Senate’s vote on Brett Kavanaugh’s…
The Senate has confirmed Brett Kavanaugh as an associate justice of the Supreme…
President Donald Trump has said that he is looking…
Turkish authorities are investigating the disappearance of a veteran Saudi…
A motionless squirrel apparently stunned by a passing car has been revived by the…
CCTV footage of the attack drew gasps from…
Cristiano Ronaldo’s sponsorship deal with Nike could be at risk after the Juventus star was…
Vladimir Putin says Sergei Skripal is a „scumbag“ at the Russia Energy Week…
The Prime Minister Theresa May struts onto…
Donald Trump mocks Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Supreme…
A man has died after he was hit by a window…
Former foreign secretary Boris Johnson says it’s time to „chuck the Chequers…
Donald Trump weighs in on the investigation of Brett Kavanaugh at a press…
Boris Johnson has said that he will never be prime minister during a speech at a…
Donald Trump insults a female reporter during a…
Emergency services continue to battle a huge fire in…
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets as Donald Trump arrived in Britain. Here…
