HONG KONG: Malaysia barred a veteran Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker from entering the country yesterday branding him a ‘troublemaker’, days after student leader Joshua Wong was denied entry over fears he would threaten ties with China.
Leung Kwok-hung – known as ‘Long Hair’ – of the League of Social Democrats was turned away from Kuala Lumpur airport and sent back to Hong Kong.
Leung, 59, had been due to speak about Tiananmen Square and Hong Kong’s electoral reforms to local activists last night with an open discussion on human rights scheduled for today.
“We do not welcome troublemakers into Malaysia and that is why we deported him (Leung) back to Hong Kong. We only welcome peace-loving people,” Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar told AFP.
Khalid would not say whether Leung’s deportation was tied to Malaysia’s close ties with Beijing.
“The fiasco is unfounded and unnecessary,” said Avery Ng, the vice chairman of the League of Social Democrats, who works closely with Leung.
Hong Kong’s security minister Lai Tung-kwok said the city’s authorities would not intervene.
“We respect and we do not intervene in decisions made by immigration authorities in accordance with their law,” he told reporters.
The Malaysia-based group that had arranged Leung’s visit said he had told them by phone that his passport had been seized by immigration officials at Kuala Lumpur airport and he had been detained for 90 minutes, before being sent back to Hong Kong on a Cathay Pacific flight.
“Leung said that the officials declined to explain why he was not being allowed into the country despite repeated demands,” said Ng Yap Wah, a local committee member of the “June 4 Tiananmen Square Incident” group, which organised both Leung and Wong’s visits.
“I suspect… similar to the recent deportation of Joshua Wong, China could have put pressure on Malaysia to ban Leung from entering.”
Wong had also been due to talk about the Tiananmen Square crackdown and the democracy movement but was denied entry at Penang airport Tuesday and sent back to Hong Kong.
The teenage face of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy ‘Umbrella Movement’, Wong, 18, helped galvanise mass rallies which brought parts of the city to a standstill for more than two months late last year, calling for fully free leadership elections.
Khalid said Tuesday Wong had been blocked for his ‘anti-China’ views.
Wong was also on a watchlist held by Malaysian authorities, reports said. — AFP