Minister urges explanation for ‘concerning’ decision to bar UK MP from Hong Kong

A UK trade minister has urged Hong Kong authorities to explain the “deeply concerning” decision to hold and turn away a Liberal Democrat MP, as she tried to visit her baby grandson.

On a visit to China, Douglas Alexander has demanded that interlocutors explain why Wera Hobhouse was blocked from entering the Chinese region, and a Government spokesperson warned the incident risked to “further undermine Hong Kong’s international reputation”.

Ms Hobhouse, the MP for Bath, earlier said she feared a “hidden blacklist” might exist, and suggested the UK risked “falling into the arms of false friends” without scrutiny of London’s relationship with Beijing.

Mr Alexander raised the Government’s “immediate and deep concern” during a visit to mainland China and Hong Kong.

“Minister Alexander raised our concerns and demanded an explanation with senior Chinese and Hong Kong interlocutors, including Hong Kong’s chief secretary for administration, to understand why the Hong Kong authorities refused access to a British MP.

“It is deeply concerning that a UK MP was refused permission to enter Hong Kong last week.

“Unjustified restrictions on the freedom of movement for UK citizens into Hong Kong only serves to further undermine Hong Kong’s international reputation and the important people-to-people connections between the UK and Hong Kong.

“As the Foreign Secretary (David Lammy) has made clear and Minister Alexander relayed in person, it would be unacceptable for any MP to be denied entry for simply expressing their views.”

The Hong Kong government said it would not comment on individual cases but that its immigration officers are duty-bound to question those arriving on the purpose of any visit.

“The person concerned knows best what he or she has done. It will be unhelpful to the person’s case if the person refuses to answer questions put to him or her for that purpose,” it said in a statement.

It also said that Chief Secretary Eric Chan discussed the matter with the Mr Alexander.

A spokesperson for Ms Hobhouse said she fully answered all questions at immigration.

“Wera answered fully all the questions she was asked, and was compliant with officials through the whole ordeal. It’s concerning that the Chinese authorities are trying to cast doubt on her faithful account,” they said.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey called for the Chinese ambassador to the UK to be summoned to provide a “clear and comprehensive account” of why his party colleague was refused entry.

“These statements today from the Chinese authorities suggest that, despite ministers’ best efforts, no explanation for the appalling treatment of my colleague and friend Wera Hobhouse is going to be forthcoming. We cannot simply let this slide.”

Ms Hobhouse travelled to Hong Kong on Thursday to visit her son, who has lived there since 2019, and new grandson.

She was detained at the airport, questioned and then put back on a flight to the UK.

Ms Hobhouse is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), which scrutinises British and Chinese relations.

Speaking to LBC, she said that while some MPs had been banned from entering China, her experience came as “a real shock”.

She added: “There must be some sort of hidden blacklist and this is of course why people want to get to the bottom of it.

“We want to know, and this is where me and the Foreign Office should really ask the ambassador and the Chinese authorities to give us an explanation.”

Ms Hobhouse later continued: “China is not a strategic ally, in fact in some cases it could be argued it’s the opposite. And they’re not a democracy, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) are only interested to expand their influence over countries like the UK. We should be pretty clear eyed about that.”

She said: “There is such a thing as a UK-China audit, where we should really look at the risks to some of our strategic national interests, and make sure that we are not in some sort (of a) way, falling into the arms of false friends.”