In solidarity with activist Yang Jianli denied entry to Hong Kong

This is the fourth time that Hong Kong authorities have denied Yang's entry into the administration region in the past five years; the first three times were on the eve of the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, during the twentieth anniversary of the June 4th Massacre in May 2009, and the 100th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 in October 2011. This pattern indicates that the Hong Kong authorities have been following Beijing's order to block people on its blacklist from entering the city.

The Center for the Opening and Development of Latin America (CADAL) expresses its solidarity with the founder of the organization Citizen Power for China, Dr. Yang Jianli who was denied entry into Hong Kong last April 19th.

Yang traveled to Hong Kong to attend the opening ceremony of the June 4thMemorial Museum at the invitation of the Honorable Lee Cheuk-yan, Chairman of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China (the Alliance) and a member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong, but Hong Kong authorities refused him entry.

The June 4th Memorial Museum seeks to increase the understanding of the history of the events that took place at Place Tiananmen on June 4th 1989 and explore the spirit of the democratic movement in those years. It also intends to perpetuate the spirit of those fighters for democracy who sacrificed their freedom and even their lives for democracy and prosperity in China.

According to Hong Kong law, Yang is eligible to enter Hong Kong and stay for up to 7 days. However, when Yang arrived in Hong Kong from the U.S. (transiting through Taipei, Taiwan) at round 10:00 pm on the 19th, he was stopped by the officers at the Hong Kong immigration checkpoint at the airport. After being questioned for over 3 hours, Yang was told that he was not allowed to enter Hong Kong. Yang protested the decision and demanded to know a reason for the denial, but none was given.

This is the fourth time that Hong Kong authorities have denied Yang's entry into the administration region in the past five years; the first three times were on the eve of the Beijing Olympics in August 2008, during the twentieth anniversary of the June 4th Massacre in May 2009, and the 100th anniversary of the Revolution of 1911 in October 2011. This pattern indicates that the Hong Kong authorities have been following Beijing's order to block people on its blacklist from entering the city.

CADAL regrets that the Hong Kong authorities have become an accomplice in Beijing's persecution of its own citizens preventing them from exercising the universal human right that establishes that “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country”.