Daiy US Times, Hong Kong: The chief of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Kenneth Roth has been denied entry to Hong Kong. He was planning to launch e report criticizing China’s human rights abuse.
HRW said the chief denied entry as a result of pressure from Beijing, and it is an act of ”vanishing freedoms”.
Hong Kong has been gripped of anti-government protests for months. Police used heavy force to destroy the gathering. Lots of protesters were taken to jail.
China had threatened sanctions of American NGOs, including HRW, for ”supporting anti-China” forces.
Mr. Roth said in a Twitter video while waiting at Hong Kong International Airport officials told him he was barred for “immigration reasons,” even though he had visited the city before.
Hong Kong’s immigration department did not make any comment about the issue.
Human Rights Watch publishes annual human rights report. This year, the organization focused on “how the Chinese government is trying to deliberately undermine the international human rights system” what Mr. Roth said ”not simply to suppress the rights of people at home but also undermine the ability of anybody else to try to hold China to human rights standards.”
He said the refusal to let him enter the city vividly illustrates the problem.
Massive protests in Hong Kong
The protest broke out in Hong Kong in June last year when the city authority proposed an extradition bill. The bill allows suspected Hong Kongers to be prosecuted in mainland China.
Amid massive protests, the authority has withdrawn the bill, but the protesters claimed more demand, including independence.
Mr. Roth is not the first person to be denied to enter the city, openly critical academics and activists are among those who have been denied entry in recent years.
Hong Kong got independence from the British in 1997 on a special apparatus. The agreement between China and Britain allows the city to enjoy full freedom and democracy, unlikely mainland China.
Since then, China administrates the city under “one country, two systems” system.
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