LONDON – Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy has voiced serious concern and is seeking urgent explanations from Hong Kong and Chinese authorities after British opposition MP Wera Hobhouse was denied entry to the Chinese territory.
“It is deeply concerning to hear that an MP on a personal trip has been refused entry to Hong Kong,” Lammy said in a statement. “We will urgently raise this with the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing to demand an explanation.”
Hobhouse, a Liberal Democrat MP, announced on social media that she is the first British parliamentarian to be refused entry to Hong Kong since the territory was handed back to China in 1997.
“Authorities gave me no explanation for this cruel and upsetting blow,” she wrote. Speaking to The Sunday Times, Hobhouse said she had flown to Hong Kong on Thursday to visit her newborn grandson and her son, who works in the city.
Hobhouse has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party, particularly over its clampdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Tibet, and its aggressive posture towards Taiwan and the South China Sea.
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau, its immigration department, and the Chinese embassy in London have yet to comment on the incident or provide reasons for the travel ban.
Hobhouse’s case marks the third instance in recent weeks of British MPs being denied entry to a foreign country. Previously, Israel barred two Labour MPs from entering the West Bank, citing concerns that their visit could fuel anti-Israel activities, according to the Israeli embassy in London.