HONG KONG: A British activist critical of Hong Kong’s rights record was barred entry to the former British colony on Wednesday, prompting a demand from London for an explanation, a week before a Communist Party leadership meeting starts in Beijing. Benedict Rogers, a co…
HONG KONG: A British activist critical of Hong Kong’s rights record was barred entry to the former British colony on Wednesday, prompting a demand from London for an explanation, a week before a Communist Party leadership meeting starts in Beijing.
Benedict Rogers, a co-founder of the Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission, has been a vocal critic of Chinese-ruled Hong Kong’s treatment of human rights activists, including that of jailed student protest leader Joshua Wong.
After arriving from Bangkok on Wednesday, Rogers said immigration officials who were « perfectly friendly and polite » took him into a room and briefly asked him non-sensitive questions.
They denied him entry about an hour later without giving a reason, Rogers told Reuters over the phone. He was then escorted on to the next flight to Bangkok by half a dozen officials.
Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is governed under a « one country, two systems » principle that promises it a high degree of autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed on the mainland.
But critics have accused the government of bending to the will of Communist Party leaders in Beijing and of a gradual watering down of the territory’s freedoms, including freedom of speech and right to protest.
The Immigration Department said in a statement it does not comment on individual cases, adding it decides whether entry will be allowed « in accordance with the Hong Kong law and prevailing immigration policies ».
