Summon Chinese ambassador after MP refused entry to Hong Kong – Davey
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he is ‘deeply concerned’ by the refusal to allow Wera Hobhouse to visit her family in the territory.
Sir Ed Davey has called on the Foreign Secretary to summon the Chinese ambassador and demand an explanation after a Liberal Democrat MP was refused entry to Hong Kong.
Bath MP Wera Hobhouse had travelled to Hong Kong on Thursday to visit her son, who has lived there since 2019, and new grandson.
But she was detained at the airport, questioned and then put on a flight back to the UK. It is believed to be the first time a British MP has been refused entry to Hong Kong since the UK handed it back to China in 1997.
Writing to David Lammy on Sunday, Sir Ed asked the Foreign Secretary to “meet urgently with Wera to discuss her case, and summon the Chinese ambassador to provide a full account of why a British MP and her family have been treated in such an appalling way”.
Ms Hobhouse, a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) which criticises Beijing’s handling of human rights, told The Times she had been given no explanation for being refused entry to Hong Kong.
Describing the decision as “cruel”, she added: “My son was waiting at the other end at arrivals. I couldn’t even see him and give him a hug and I hadn’t seen him in a year.”
On Saturday, Mr Lammy had said he would raise the issue with the authorities in Hong Kong and Beijing, adding it was “deeply concerning to hear that an MP on a personal trip has been refused entry to Hong Kong”.
In a joint statement, other British MPs who are members of Ipac also urged the Government and Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to “take a very strong stand in addressing this affront to democratic principles and personal freedoms”.
They said: “Detained and deported without explanation, Hobhouse’s exclusion appears linked to her criticism of Beijing’s human rights record, and possibly her membership of this network.
“This incident, the first of its kind since Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong, coincides with UK ministers visiting China and Hong Kong to develop trade and investment links.
“That the Hong Kong authorities felt able to deny entry to a sitting parliamentarian while simultaneously hosting UK ministers is an insult to Parliament.
“That they appear to have done so because of an objection to something a UK MP has said in the legitimate exercise of her duties is a challenge to our core values as a nation.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Newscast, Ms Hobhouse suggested that the decision had “probably” been an attempt “to shut me up”.
She added: “It is very chilling that authoritarian countries can treat us in this way. Until now, I think there had been a diplomatic understanding that we might have different values, different political ideas but there is some sort of basic rule in which we allow politicians into each other’s countries, and that sort of understanding seems to be collapsing.”
China has previously banned several British MPs from entering the country, including Ipac members Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Nusrat Ghani, and former security minister Tom Tugendhat.
Mr Lammy added: “As I made clear earlier this week, it would be unacceptable for an MP to be denied entry for simply expressing their views as a parliamentarian.
“Unjustified restrictions on freedom of movement can only serve to further undermine Hong Kong’s international reputation.”
A week earlier, Mr Lammy had criticised the Israeli government for refusing to allow Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang to enter the country due to comments they had made about the conflict in Gaza.
