Entry ban makes 'one country, two systems' a lie, Wang Dan says

Exiled June 4 dissident Wang Dan called the 'one country, two systems' arrangement a lie after the government banned him and fellow former student leader Wuer Kaixi from coming to Hong Kong to attend the funeral of democracy stalwart Szeto Wah.

Once on Beijing's most-wanted list after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, Wang and Wuer are among a group of dissidents who wished to pay their last respects to Szeto, who died of lung cancer at the age of 79. Szeto had spearheaded an underground operation to smuggle many of the June 4 activists out of the mainland after the crackdown.

Wang, who now teaches at a university in Taiwan, said in a statement: 'I can't say I am disappointed. I am sad and angry.

'I think the government decision has once again proved that the so-called 'one country, two systems' is a lie. Can the Hong Kong government explain clearly what kind of harm I would pose to the public?'

His mother, Wang Lingyun, said she did not understand why the government was so afraid of her son. 'Wang Dan is not an atomic bomb. He is just a normal person who wants to pay respects to Szeto,' she said in Beijing.

Separately, democracy activist Chin Jin was turned away at the Hong Kong airport yesterday after flying in from Australia.

An Australian passport holder, Chin criticised the Hong Kong government for going against public sentiment. 'Beijing has said Hong Kong can make the decision itself, so the government should allow entry in accordance with the traditional Chinese respect for the deceased.'