Macau officials said yesterday that refusal to allow entry to a Hong Kong democracy activist was a case of mistaken identity.
A Public Security Police spokeswoman said Lui Yuk-lin, 38, a member of the April 5th Action Group, was confused with someone of a similar name.
'It wasn't anything political, just a case of mistaken identity because of identical Chinese names on a list of people barred from entering Macau,' said spokeswoman Koc Soi-leng.
'That woman can enter Macau any time.' She added: 'Like any country and territory in the world, Macau has a list of people whose entry is banned for a number of reasons, namely public security and police matters.' Ms Lui was denied entry by the Macau Immigration Service, part of the Public Security Police, on Sunday.
She was travelling with her 10-year-old nephew.
Ms Koc declined to reveal any details of the blacklist. She would not say who the democracy activist had been mistaken for.