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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr Ambrose S K Lee, to a question by the Hon Audrey Eu in the Legislative Council today (June 10):
Question:
It has been reported that Mr Zhou Yongjun, a leader of the June 4th democracy movement who has permanent residency in the United States (US), was arrested in Shenzhen by the mainland Police on his way from US to the Mainland via Hong Kong last year. He was formally arrested by the mainland Police for "financial fraud" in early May this year. Regarding the vetting and approving of entry applications by the authorities, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has any role to play in the arrest of Mr Zhou Yongjun, including notifying the mainland authorities of Mr Zhou's arrival at Hong Kong;
(b) of the reasons for refusing the entry of Mr Jens Galschiot, a sculptor from Denmark who created the Pillar of Shame, and Mr Wang Dan, Mr Wang Chaohua, Mr Wang Juntao and Mr Yang Jianli, who are democracy activists, and whether any political consideration was involved; and
(c) of the number of visitors who were refused entry each month since January 2008 by the authorities in the course of performing the work to "prevent the entry of undesirable persons", the nationalities of these visitors and the reasons for refusing their entry?
Reply:
President,
(a) We do not comment on individual cases. All criminal judicial co-operation with or mutual legal assistance in criminal matters provided to any other jurisdictions must be in compliance with the Basic Law and the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
(b) We do not comment on individual cases. Entry of visitors may be refused on grounds of different individual circumstances, such as "not in possession of valid travel document"; "use of forged travel document"; or "purpose of visit in doubt". In processing each entry application, the Immigration Department acts in accordance with the law and the prevailing policy, taking into account all relevant factors and the individual circumstances of each visitor in deciding whether to allow or refuse entry.
(c) From January 2008 to May 2009, a total of 52,128 visitors were refused entry:
Monthly figures
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2008 2009
---- ----
January 3,208 2,871
February 2,688 2,665
March 2,877 2,898
April 3,147 2,732
May 3,068 2,638
June 3,100
July 3,353
August 3,487
September 3,370
October 3,622
November 3,198
December 3,206
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Total 52,128
Nationalities (by country's geographical region) and Circumstances
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Not in Use of Purpose Total
possession forged of visit
of valid travel in doubt
travel document
document
---------- -------- -------- ------
Mainland 7,399 484 28,258 36,141
China
Asia 6,437 294 7,272 14,003
Pacific
(other than
Mainland
China)
Africa 335 91 983 1,409
Americas 142 18 152 312
Europe 184 20 59 263
------ ------ ------ ------- ------
Total 14,497 907 36,724 52,128
Ends/Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:53
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