Beijing turns away H.K. reporter for untold national security reasons

Asian Economic News, July 7, 2008

HONG KONG, July 4 Kyodo

A Hong Kong newspaper reporter was barred from entering Beijing to cover the Olympic preparations for untold national security reasons, the reporter's employer Apple Daily and local media reported Thursday.

Choy Yuen-gwai, the reporter, and a photographer arrived at Beijing's airport Tuesday. The photographer was allowed entry but Choy was taken to a room for questions.

''The officials asked me questions like where am I staying in Beijing, which organization I work for and where do I live in Hong Kong,'' Choy told Hong Kong's TVB. ''They then confiscated my home return permit and told me that I am not allowed to enter according to the national security laws.''

Choy returned to Hong Kong the same night. The newspaper said Choy's press accreditation was still being processed, suggesting that he was not accredited to work in China when he arrived in Beijing.

While foreigners traveling to China need to apply for visas, Hong Kong citizens only need to apply for the home return permit that has a 10-year validity.

The Hong Kong Journalists Association urged the Beijing authorities to give a reasonable explanation for the bar and treat all foreign journalists fairly.

Beijing has issued temporary guidelines for foreign reporters covering news in China, that from January last year through October this year journalists conducting interviews in the country need not apply for official permission but only the interviewees' consent.

That openness, however, disappeared after a riot broke out in western China's Tibet Autonomous Region in March. Hong Kong reporters were deported from the affected areas until the authorities organized staged media tours months later.

As the Olympic approaches, Beijing was seen tightening control over dissent voices and ordering heavy-handed crackdown on civil unrest, reversing its previous announcement about free press.