Occupy student leader Joshua Wong ‘a threat to Malaysia’s ties with China’, police chief admits
Occupy leader had planned to speak on democracy movement at seminars around the country
Occupy student leader Joshua Wong Chi-fung was denied entry into Malaysia yesterday with the country's police chief later saying they did not want him to jeopardise their ties with China.
The 18-year-old will miss four seminars at which he was to talk about last year's pro-democracy movement and the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, after government officers at Penang International Airport ordered him to return to Hong Kong.
Wong, convenor of the student group Scholarism, said he "deeply regretted" the Malaysian government's decision to reject him, which he said was "totally unexpected".
But Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Abu Bakar Khalid said the purpose of Wong's visit was to explain how he had organised demonstrations in Hong Kong.
"We were afraid that what he was going to speak about would harm our security," he said.
"He was also going to speak about China. We know his anti-Chinese speeches. We do not want him to jeopardise our ties with China."
Malaysian authorities have blocked activists before - in 2012, they deported six Chinese Uygurs who had sought asylum back to the mainland, and the following year Australian politician Nick Xenophon was denied entry on national security grounds after he took part in an anti-government rally earlier.