A top Chinese official yesterday defended his government's decision to bar a Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker from entering the mainland, saying customs authorities acted legally.
Officials who turned away Legislator Law Chi-kwong at the Shanghai airport on Saturday "made a decision according to the relevant provisions of immigration law," said Li Gang, deputy head of China's liaison office in Hong Kong.
Law said he was told his presence "would not be beneficial for the country."
China traditionally considers Hong Kong's pro-democracy leaders troublemakers because of their harsh criticism of Beijing's authoritarian rule in the mainland.
But Law being denied entry marks a surprise departure from China's recent string of conciliatory gestures toward opposition figures, a strategy apparently aimed at minimizing a backlash against Beijing's local allies in the Sept. 12 legislative election.
Many people in Hong Kong are upset that Beijing ruled in April that the territory can't directly elect its next leader in 2007 and lawmakers in 2008.
The ruling prompted hundreds of thousands to protest on July 1, the seventh anniversary of this former British colony's handover to Chinese rule.
Adding to the confusion, Law claims he was told by China's liaison office here that he had been cleared to visit the mainland.
Political scientist James Sung at the City University of Hong Kong said Law may have been denied entry by mistake because Shanghai authorities weren't promptly notified to let him in.
But fellow scholar Ma Ngok said the mixed signals showed China still has reservations about Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp.
"The basis for communication is very fragile," said Ma, who teaches at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Hong Kong enjoys Western-style freedoms denied in the mainland under Chinese sovereignty, but only limited democracy.
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