A Liberal Democratic Deputy Forbidden to enter Hong Kong He told the BBC that he thinks it was to “shut up and silence me.”
Waa Hobhouse flew to the Chinese region with her husband on Thursday to visit her newborn son and grandson. However, it was arrested at the airport, interrogated and deported.
The deputy of Bath, one of the more than 40 parliamentarians of the Interparliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) that criticizes the management of human rights by Beijing, said that no reason was given to be rejected entry.
Speaking in the BBC news program on Sunday, he said he wants “some answers”, and said he was not very “disadvantaged from China.”
Hobhouse told Newcast that she and her husband had “waiting” to visit her son, who has lived in Hong Kong since 2019.
While her husband “was quickly processed” and was allowed to enter, she was side tasks to interrogate, Hero for five hours and then put a return flight.
Asked by the presenter Laura Kuessberg what the authorities said about why she was arrested, Hobhouse replied: “Nothing.”
“They said they won’t worry at the beginning, just some questions to answer.”
In response to the suggestion that it could be due to its participation in IPAC, which analyzes Beijing’s human rights history, Hobhouse said it was not very “boring from China.”
“I was just defending our values,” he said.
“It would be terrible if China uses this now to intimidate me, to avoid talking about human rights, freedom and democracy.
“That is the last thing that should happen, but it is, or the course, probably the intention, shut up and silence me.”
Hobhouse said he had experienced a lot of solidarity of the “very worried” parliamentarians.
The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, David Lammy, has promised “urgently” to raise the problem with the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing and “demand an explanation”
He added that it would be “unacceptable for a deputy to be denied entry for simply expressing his views as a parliamentarian.”
Lib dem, Sir Ed Davey, has asked Lammy to summons the Chinese ambassador, adding that the Chinese government “Socve our democracy intimidating our parliamentarians” cannot be allowed.
“I want some answers,” said Hobhouse, asking Lammy “to reassure the parliamentarians that this is not the way in which Chinese communist parties can deal [them]”
It comes a week later Two Labor Parliamentarians were denied entry to Israel While on a trip to visit Cisjordan busy.
“It is very chilling that authoritarian counters can treat us in this way,” said Hobhouse, adding the “diplomatic understanding” in which we allow politicians to enter the countries of the other seemed to be “collapsing.”
She has ruled out approaching the Chinese embassy to get permission, enter Hong Kong, saying that they see her relatives elsewhere.
When asked about the time of the incident in the week, the United Kingdom government Tried to take control of property Chinese The British steel plant in Scunthorpe, Lincs, Hobhouse said it could only speculate.
He asked for a “clear eyes” approach to what China wants from Great Britain, saying “they are not just spongy and friendly relationships.”
“They want something of us. They use us and we should not be naive to give them access to too much, for example, our critical national infrastructure.”
The Chinese embassy has been approached to comment.
