The Hong Kong government yesterday asked officials in Macau why it had refused entry to a number of people including academics, politicians and a journalist.
Hong Kong Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee (李少光) said the Hong Kong government was “concerned” about the travel bans imposed by Macau and would seek an explanation from its Beijing-appointed leaders.
Several pro-democracy politicians have been refused entry to Macau since December and two academics who opposed national security laws being introduced in Hong Kong in 2003 have also been denied entry. A Hong Kong photographer who was detained briefly in Beijing last year when a scuffle broke out over queues for Olympic tickets was also refused entry to Macau on security grounds.
Macau is a 45-minute ferry ride from Hong Kong and people barred from entry to the territory are usually turned away at immigration when they arrive and put on a ferry back to Hong Kong.
The travel bans have provoked fears that Macau is taking a hard line on anyone it sees as being anti-China.
Casino tycoon Stanley Ho (何鴻燊), who runs most of Macau’s famous casinos, told reporters on Wednesday that he supported the travel bans, saying the people refused entry had been intent on stirring up trouble.
In Hong Kong, former secretary for security Regina Ip (葉劉淑儀), who stepped down after an attempt to introduce national security laws set off massive street protests, described the travel bans as “ridiculous” and called on the government to challenge them.
Macau, which introduced national security laws in February without a murmur of public opposition, has given no formal response so far to the outcry over the travel bans although one of its ministers has said it was entitled to expel the journalist.
Meanwhile, a prominent Chinese activist lawyer was detained in Shanghai yesterday just hours before he was to participate in an event drawing attention to forced evictions in the city, his wife said.
About five police arrived at Zheng Enchong’s (鄭恩寵) home and summoned him to the police station Thursday morning, his wife, Jiang Meili (蔣美麗), said.
“He’s not home now. He’s summoned by police again today,” Jiang told reporters by phone.
The 59-year-old lawyer had also been detained for about 12 hours on Wednesday, she said.
The move to detain Zheng came hours before he was to speak via audio-link at a news conference held yesterday in Hong Kong by Shanghai residents evicted from their homes to make way for larger development projects.
Jiang said police aimed to stop Zheng from contacting the media by taking him away.
The Shanghai Public Security Bureau in Zhabei district could not immediately be reached for comment.
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