A veteran Chinese dissident has demanded an explanation from the government after he was barred from entering Hong Kong following five hours of interrogation. Wang Xizhe, 70, was allowed into the city last October, but only after he promised immigration officers he would not to talk to the media, meet any politically sensitive people or attend any public event during his stay. The veteran dissident, who fled to the United States in 1996, said he was questioned for five hours after landing in Hong Kong on Monday. “The officers didn’t ask any political questions. They only asked about my plans during my stay and the friends I was about to meet,” Wang, who was eventually denied entry and sent back to the US, said. “They didn’t propose any conditions like last time.” Wang said the officers also learned he would fly from Hong Kong to Taiwan later this week. “I requested to be sent to Taiwan instead of the US if they wouldn’t allow me to enter Hong Kong but they refused,” he said. Wang added he found out his flight ticket from Hong Kong to Taiwan was cancelled only after he was sent back to the US. He believed it was done by Hong Kong’s immigration authorities. The Post was unable to independently verify the claims. Wang revealed to the Post the three conditions immigration officers imposed on him last October after he left the city for Taiwan. In an open letter to Hong Kong’s leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and security minister John Lee Ka-chiu issued on Wednesday, the dissident accused the government of unreasonably breaking its promise. “[Last October] an immigration officer surnamed Lam told me: ‘It’s very good you promised the chief executive and secretary for security [you will follow the three conditions]. I hope you will keep your promise. If you do, coming to Hong Kong will be easy in the future’,” Wang wrote. “How can you go back on your word? Why did you reject my entry this time?” The security chief once said there is no ‘blacklist’. Is there indeed no blacklist? How could a security chief openly lie about it? Wang Xizhe, dissident Wang questioned whether the Security Bureau kept a blacklist of individuals to bar their entry to the city. “The security chief once said there is no ‘blacklist’. Is there indeed no blacklist? How could a security chief openly lie about it?” he wrote. In the letter, Wang said trying to enter Hong Kong was as much of a gamble as buying a Mark Six lottery ticket. “What are the reasons behind the entry ban? Could there be any clear guidelines so one does not have to rely on luck to enter Hong Kong?” he said. Wang urged the authorities to provide an explanation and legal basis for the rejection, or an apology and compensation if the administration failed to come up with any. The Immigration Department said it would not comment on individual cases and would “handle each case in accordance with the law, prevailing policies and procedures, and individual circumstances of each case”. Wang has been in exile for two decades after publishing a joint statement with late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, calling on the Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang, which was then the ruling party in Taiwan, to start negotiations for the “peaceful and democratic unification of China”. He originally planned to stay in Hong Kong for six days and leave for Taiwan on Saturday. He was invited by the Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) to lead a delegation of four scholars and host a forum on cross-strait relations on April 23. What are the reasons behind the entry ban? Could there be any clear guidelines so one does not have to rely on luck to enter Hong Kong? Wang Xizhe But last Friday, one of the four delegates, mainland Chinese academic Li Yi, was deported from Taiwan for trying to deliver a pro-unification speech at another CUPP forum. Taiwan’s immigration authorities said Li violated his tourist entry permit and “could endanger national security and cause public unrest”. Li is known as an advocate of the use of force, if necessary, to unify self-ruled Taiwan and mainland China. Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen said such advocacy would have a direct impact on national security. Wang said he would fly directly to Taiwan from the US to attend the forum, which would have to be postponed for a day or two.