WASHINGTON (AFP) — Hong Kong authorities detained a US-based rights activist Wednesday after blocking his entry into the Chinese territory on a flight from Japan, his Washington-based group said.
Yang Jianli, a Chinese citizen, had planned to participate in a "walk for human rights" in Hong Kong to highlight the plight of political prisoners in China and then take a train to conduct humanitarian work in earthquake-struck Sichuan province, according to Initiatives for China.
Hong Kong authorities detained him at the airport after he refused to be deported back to Japan, where he flew from after attending a conference on support for democracy in China, said Jim Geheran, the group's director.
"He is detained in a holding cell at Hong Kong airport," Geheran told AFP. "It is my understanding that he has refused to be put on an airplane back to Tokyo."
"He has demanded his right as a Chinese citizen with a valid Chinese passport under the Chinese constitution and also Article 12 of the UN Covenant for Civil and Human Rights, which China is a signatory, to be able to continue his humanitarian mission on mainland China," he said.
Yang, who is also a US permanent resident, was a former political prisoner who served five years in jail in China for alleged espionage.
He was released in April 2007 and returned to his home in Brookline, Massachusetts four months later.
"I am a Chinese citizen and I have every right to enter my country," Yang said in a statement issued by Initiatives for China, of which he is founder.
"Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Many hundreds, if not thousands of my countrymen are denied the right of return," he said.
"Many of them have had their passports illegally confiscated. This is an issue that must addressed by the international community."
US Winter Olympic champion and Darfur anti-violence campaigner Joey Cheek had his an entry visa rejected by China and Washington has formally protested to Beijing over the issue.
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