Hong Kong denies blacklist as Tiananmen activist is barred (Roundup)

Jun 3, 2009, 8:17 GMT

   Hong Kong - A Hong Kong minister Wednesday denied the city had a blacklist of dissidents just hours after a leader of the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing was barred from entering.

   Xiang Xiaoji was put on a plane back to the US by immigration officials at Hong Kong International Airport early Wednesday after arriving for events marking the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre on June 4.

   Xiang, one of the student leaders who spoke to government officials in Beijing ahead of the 1989 massacre, in which hundreds and possibly thousands of protesters were killed, now lives in exile in the US.

   He had previously been allowed into Hong Kong in 1999 to attend a pro-democracy conference but on this occasion was put back on a plane to New York early Wednesday.

   Three other Chinese dissidents living in the US have also been refused entry to Hong Kong ahead of the sensitive anniversary which is commemorated in the former British colony but nowhere else on Chinese soil.

   Asked about his expulsion by pro-democracy legislators later Wednesday, Hong Kong's secretary for security Ambrose Lee denied the city had a blacklist but admitted there was a 'watch list.'

   Officials exchanged intelligence with overseas counterparts to draw up the watch list of people who did not meet the immigration requirements, Lee told the city's legislative council.

   The minister insisted the procedure was 'no different than international standards' and said immigration officers made independent decisions on who to allow into Hong Kong.

   But pro-democracy legislator Andrew Cheng said the government 'does have a very clear, politically censored blacklist.'

   Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, is the only place in China where the 1989 massacre can be publicly commemorated thanks to its mini-constitution guaranteeing political freedom.

   Tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in a candlelight vigil in the city's Victoria Park to mark the 20th anniversary of the massacre and to call on China to reverse its official verdict on the incident.

   One former Beijing student leader has been allowed into the city. Xiong Yan, who was once on a list of the 21 most-wanted people in China after the 1989 incident, arrived without incident on Saturday.