A Hong Kong professor and two pro-democracy politicians were barred from Macau, escalating concerns over a possible curb on freedom of expression, a broadcaster said yesterday.
Johannes Chan (陳文敏), dean of the University of Hong Kong’s law faculty, told Cable TV he was turned away by immigration officers when he went to give a speech at the University of Macau on Friday.
“The officers took my identity card for a check. The computer showed that I might not be able to enter the city,” said Chan, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association.
“They told me that I cannot enter Macau according to the internal security law of Macau and that they will send me back,” the human rights advocate said.
The only explanation given by the Macau officials was that his name was on a list and that they were just doing their job, Chan told the broadcaster.
He said he believed it was because of his role in the Article 23 Concern Group, set up in 2002 to campaign against the Hong Kong government’s plan to enact controversial security legislation.
The bill was to come under the Basic Law, the territory’s mini-constitution following its return to Chinese rule in 1997. Public pressure forced the government to shelve it in 2003.
Chan said he was not familiar with Macau’s new security legislation, which mirrored Hong Kong’s shelved security bill and took effect on Tuesday. Macau also has a mini-constitution after returning to China in 1999.
The professor said he had often traveled to Macau for academic exchanges and that Friday was the first time he had been turned away. He expressed concerns about the authorities’ curbs on academic freedom.
A spokesman for Macau’s government said three Hong Kong residents were denied entry between Friday and Tuesday, but gave no further details.
The two other residents were pro-democracy politicians Frederick Fung (馮檢基) and Bruce Liu (劉江華), the South China Morning Post said.
In December, nine Hong Kong pro-democracy politicians who planned to protest against the security bill in Macau were denied entry.
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
RSS