The mainland's decision to deny legislator Margaret Ng Ngoi-yee entry for a legal seminar in the Chinese capital has exposed how out of touch the policy-makers in Beijing are with the SAR.
Some Legislative Councillors are planning to sponsor a debate on press freedom at the first regular Legco sitting on October 13 after the summer recess. It may be worthwhile for them to considering tabling another motion on the freedom of travel in the country as well.
Before the handover, dissidents such as labour activist Han Dongfang were barred from re-entering the country through Hong Kong once they left Chinese soil. Meanwhile, core members of the Alliance in Support of the Democratic Patriotic Movement in China had their re-entry permits confiscated.
Many in Hong Kong have found the entry restriction unnecessary but understandable. After all, Zhongnanhai has branded the alliance as subversive in the wake of the Tiananmen Square killings in 1989.
The ban, however, has recently been widened to cover other councillors not active in the alliance. In June, Frontier councillor Cyd Ho Sau-lan and Democrat James To Kun-sun, for example, were not allowed to board a plane for Beijing.
More recently, immigration officials turned away another democrat, Fred Li Wah-ming, on a pleasure tour to the mainland. Like any other jurisdictions, the mainland authorities are not obliged to disclose why an individual is denied entry. However, any casual observer will conclude that the mainland has expanded its ban on Hong Kong political figures whom it condemns as unfriendly.
