A former Philippine Supreme Court justice who accused Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court said that on Tuesday she was barred for hours from entering Hong Kong.
Conchita Carpio-Morales said she was stopped by immigration authorities and was held in a room at Hong Kong International Airport for about four hours, and ordered to take a flight back to Manila.
She had planned to take a vacation for five days in Hong Kong with her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, who were all allowed entry.
Hong Kong airport and immigration officials later told her “there was a mistake” and that she could proceed with her trip, but she and her family had already decided to return home because of the incident, she said.
“I have never been subjected to this kind of humiliation,” Carpio-Morales told reporters by telephone while waiting for her flight back to Manila.
She said she and her family did not want to take the risk of being subjected to further scrutiny.
A Hong Kong immigration official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a specific immigration case said Carpio-Morales had been admitted to Hong Kong.
After flying back to Manila with her family late on Tuesday, Carpio-Morales told reporters that she had repeatedly asked Hong Kong airport authorities why she was denied entry, but was told only that it was because of unspecified “immigration reasons.”
Carpio-Morales, 77, is a respected former Supreme Court associate justice and head of the Ombudsman, a special Philippine anti-corruption agency.
She retired from government service last year.
In March, she and former Philippine secretary of foreign affairs Albert del Rosario took the bold step of filing a complaint against Xi and other Chinese officials over Beijing’s assertive actions in the disputed South China Sea, which they have said deprived thousands of fishers of their livelihoods and destroyed the environment.
They accused Xi and other Chinese officials of turning seven disputed reefs into artificial islands, causing extensive environmental damage, and of blocking large numbers of fishers, including about 320,000 Filipinos, from their fishing grounds.
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua (趙鑑華) called the complaint a “fabrication.”
Chinese officials last month also raised concern over the complaint in a meeting with Philippine officials in Manila, saying the case is “affecting the prestige of our leader,” a Philippine official told reporters on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
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