Meanwhile, Bernard Chan, a top policy adviser to the city’s leader, says he is unclear about reasons behind Immigration Department’s rejection of the application
Britain has asked the Hong Kong government for an urgent explanation over its refusal to renew the visa of journalist Victor Mallet who chaired a controversial talk by an independence activist, while a top policy adviser to the city’s leader said he was unclear about the reasons behind the denial.
Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on Saturday: “We are concerned by the rejection of Mr Mallet’s visa renewal. We have asked the Hong Kong government for an urgent explanation.”
“Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and its press freedoms are central to its way of life, and must be fully respected,” the office added in its statement.
A spokesman for the US consulate general in Hong Kong echoed Britain’s concern, saying the denial was “deeply troubling”.
“This decision is especially disturbing because it mirrors problems faced by international journalists on the mainland and appears inconsistent with the principles enshrined in the Basic Law,” the spokesman said on Saturday, referring to Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.
Mallet, Asia news editor at the Financial Times and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club’s first vice-president, chaired the talk by Hong Kong National Party convenor Andy Chan Ho-tin in August despite strong objections from the city’s government and Beijing.
On Friday, the Financial Times said Hong Kong authorities had rejected an application to renew Mallet’s work visa without giving any reason. He had made the application last month.
The news prompted a backlash from pan-democratic lawmakers in the city and reporters’ groups while the government, through a spokesman, said it would not comment on individual cases.
Asked about the matter on Saturday, Bernard Chan, a top policy adviser to Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, referred reporters to the Immigration Department, saying it had its own policies when it came to issuing visas.
“This is an individual case. The government has earlier said that it would not comment on every case. I am not clear of the reasons [behind the decision in Mallet’s case]. If someone does not agree with a decision, they can make an appeal to relevant authorities.”
Chan, convenor of the Executive Council, said there should not be any special arrangements for renowned individuals or those from media organisations.
Asked if those who mentioned Hong Kong independence or invited people to talk about the subject would not be issued a work visa, he said: “I’m not clear. You need to ask the Immigration Department about its arrangements. I don’t have information on this.”
On the same day, the Civil Human Rights Front, an umbrella body of pro-democracy groups, as well as the League of Social Democrats, NeoDemocrats and the Democratic Party, staged a protest outside the Immigration Department’s headquarters in Wan Chai.
They said the government’s decision undermined the “one country, two systems” governing principle and Hong Kong’s international image as a free city. It also showed authorities had a phobia about the issue of Hong Kong independence, they added.
In a statement, localist group Demosisto, co-founded by Joshua Wong Chi-fung, said the refusal to renew Mallet’s working visa was “evidently the result of the Hong Kong government being pressured by Beijing” after Chan’s FCC talk.
“Demosisto believes that denying a working visa to a foreign journalist for political censorship is an isolationist policy, This action is not only a serious infringement of freedom of the press, it can also create a worrying precedent for those who need a working visa to stay in Hong Kong,” the statement read.
The party added that in view of the situation, “we will be sending members to Geneva to lobby next week” at a coming UN meeting.
