Hong Kong campaigners warn travellers not to visit Chinese mainland

Apr 20, 2011, 10:36 GMT

Hong Kong - Hong Kong human rights campaigners on Wednesday urged travellers to avoid China as part of a campaign against increasing arrests of activists in recent weeks.

Member from several groups handed out leaflets to people in a busy shopping area of Hong Kong, mapping out warning levels for different areas of the mainland, where they say 60 activists, writers and lawyers have been detained over the last two months.

The leaflets gave a black alert, the highest level, to Beijing, Sichuan, Shanghai and Guangdong where campaigners say rights abuses are most severe, while the rest of China was given an amber alert.

The group comprised members of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group.

Spokeswoman Mak Yin-ting told the government radio station RTHK that all travellers should be aware they risked being arrested if they made comments considered as dissent while travelling in China.

'We would like to advise the public not to think that only human rights defenders and students will be arrested by authorities in China,' she said.

'You must think very carefully about going to China for travel or even to see friends.'

The group borrowed the coloured travel alert system used by Hong Kong government to warn its residents about dangerous destinations.

An amber alert advises caution, red recommends against all non-essential travel, while a black alert denotes no-go areas. Hong Kong usually issues the official alerts after severe natural disasters or in the case of civil unrest.

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