AFP: After Wu expulsion, US presses Hong Kong on autonomy from Beijing

WASHINGTON, April 15 (AFP) - Hours after prominent US-based rights activist Harry Wu was refused entry to Hong Kong, the United States warned the territory Monday that its future hinged on free movement and free speech. Veteran Chinese-born campaigner Wu, 65, was detained and refused entry to Hong Kong at the territory's airport on Sunday night, human rights activists said.

Due to privacy legislation, the State Department on Monday could not confirm that Wu specifically was turned away from Hong Kong. But deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said that officials were "concerned" that an American had been denied entry to the territory and had asked the Hong Kong government for clarification of the incident. "We recognise the right of the Hong Kong government to make decisions on entry and exit based on its own policy and procedures," Reeker said. "But at the same time it is important that Hong Kong's autonomy be maintained.”It is important to Hong Kong's success as an international city that it remains open to the travelling public and the use of denials of entry could have the affect of limiting freedom of association and restricting the flow of ideas."

Wu's family said he was in Tokyo late Monday on a stopover flight from Hong Kong and was due back at his home in Washington on Tuesday morning local time. Reeker echoed earlier comments of US officials in Hong Kong, saying that it was important that the territory uphold rights described in its Basic Law and the international human rights documents to which it has subscribed.

Wu had previously visited Hong Kong in August 1997, shortly after the territory's handover to Chinese rule. He toiled for 19 years in Chinese labour camps after speaking out against human rights and was arrested by mainland authorities after returning to China in 1995. He was sentenced by Beijing to 15 years in jail in 1995 on charges of spying for Taiwan and immediately deported to the United States.

Hong Kong is part of China but has a degree of autonomy under the "one country, two systems" agreement under which the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.