Miss World Canada banned from entering China for pageant after 'speaking out against human rights abuses in the country'
- this year's pageant in the southern island province of Hainan
- In a pre-departure statement she said denying her entry would mean China was trying to prevent her from speaking out about human rights issues
- Lin said that after she won the Canadian title, Chinese security agents visited her father in an apparent attempt to intimidate her into silence
Miss World Canada was barred from entering China on Thursday to take part in this year's pageant in the southern island province of Hainan, a friend of the outspoken Chinese-Canadian contestant said.
Anastasia Lin was prevented from boarding her connecting flight in Hong Kong, Caylan Ford said in an email. She said authorities gave no reason.
Lin is an outspoken critic of Chinese religious policy and a follower of the Falun Gong meditation sect, which was outlawed by China's ruling Communist Party as an 'evil cult' in 1999.
Barred: Canada's Miss World contestant Anastasia Lin speaks to media after she was denied entry to mainland China, at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong on Thursday. Miss World Canada was barred from entering China on Thursday to take part in this year's pageant in the southern island province of Hainan
Pageant winner: Anastasia Lin was crowned Miss World Canada 2015 by Former Miss World Canada 2014 Annora Bourgeault (L) during Miss World Canada 2015 pageant competition at The Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 16
Lin was believed to still be in Hong Kong but was not immediately available for comment.
In a pre-departure statement she said denying her entry would mean China was trying to prevent her from speaking out about human rights issues.
Lin, who moved to Canada from China when she was 13, told a U.S. congressional hearing in July that tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been killed so their organs could be harvested and sold for transplants.
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The 25-year-old actress also plays an imprisoned Falun Gong practitioner in an upcoming Canadian movie, 'The Bleeding Edge.'
Although she hadn't received an invitation letter from organizers, and therefore was unable to obtain a Chinese visa, she said she decided to travel to China anyway in hopes of obtaining a visa on arrival.
'The Chinese government has barred me from the competition for political reasons. They are trying to punish me for my beliefs and prevent me from speaking out about human rights issues,' Lin said in her prepared statement.
In a pre-departure statement she said denying her entry would mean China was trying to prevent her from speaking out about human rights issues. Lin, who moved to Canada from China when she was 13, told a U.S. congressional hearing that Falun Gong practitioners have been killed so their organs could be harvested
'There's no comment from the Chinese embassy ... so I realize that's the tactics they're using, they just want to let it die down,' said Lin, who was wheeling a silver suitcase and dressed in a long brown trench coat.
'It's very difficult to stand up for what you believe in,' she said, adding: 'I need to figure out what to do next.'
Lin testified at a U.S. congressional hearing on religious persecution in China in July. In her testimony, she said she wanted to 'speak for those in China that are beaten, burned and electrocuted for holding to their beliefs', according to the text of her statement on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's website.
Lin said this month that her father had been harassed by Chinese officials after she spoke out about human rights abuses in the communist country.
Asked about Lin's case, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said he had 'no information to provide' about her case. He did not elaborate.
The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa said that Lin was not welcome in China, a Canadian newspaper reported on Wednesday.
'China does not allow any persona non grata to come to China,' Yundong Yang, an embassy spokesman, told the Globe and Mail. 'I simply do not understand why some people pay special attention to this matter and have raised it repeatedly.'
Miss World pageant organizers said in an email they had no information as to why a visa was not granted to Lin, but said she may be offered a place in the 2016 Miss World contest.
Visa: Although Lin hadn't received an invitation letter from organizers, and therefore was unable to obtain a Chinese visa, she said she decided to travel to China anyway in hopes of obtaining a visa on arrival
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3335050/Miss-World-Canada-denied-entry-China-country-trying-prevent-speaking-human-rights-issues.html
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