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美國香港華人聯會
The Alliance of Hong Kong Chinese in the US.
P.O. Box 3768, Santa Clara, CA 95055-3768
R2317
July 16, 91
The Honorable John Major
Prime Minister
10 Downing St.
London
United Kingdom
Dear Prime Minister,
The Alliance of Hong Kong Chinese in the United State strongly protests the police-state policy exhibited by the Hong Kong Immigration Department regarding the denial of entry into Hong Kong visitors holding valid entry visas.
Mr. Yu Zhang, a visitor from Sweden, was denied entry into Hong Kong on July 12, 1991 though he was in possession of a valid entry visa issued by the British Consulate in Sweden. Mr. Zhang was also detained against his will for seven hours. He was not allowed to make any phone calls to seek legal representations during this period. His luggage was searched and his personal belongings taken by the Immigration Department without any warrants or court orders. No reasons or apologies were given by the Immigration Department afterwards. Similar cases were also reported [1] regarding visitors from Belgium, Norway, France and the Netherlands on July 13-16.
As overseas Hong Kong Chinese, we were shocked by such uncivilized behavior. We are doubly troubled when we learned that Mr. Zhang and other detainees were invited guests of the Hong Kong Federation of Students (HKFS) in the upcoming Global Chinese Students Union (GCSU) Congress due to convene on July 17 at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. It is extremely disturbing to hear that participants of lawful and peaceful international conferences were denied visas in the first place [2] and those with valid visas were discriminately denied entry.
Whereas the recently adopted Hong Kong Bill of Rights Ordinance guarantees the freedom of assembly and association [3], the reservations made on such Ordinance have in effect eliminated these freedoms. Rules of law should not be arbitrarily applied and used by the Hong Kong Government as tools in serving other government's agenda. Hong Kong has up to now enjoyed a positive reputation among other nations as a place where its residents' freedom is respected and valued. We believe that such discriminatory practices have no place in the future of a democratic and self-governing Hong Kong.