Freddy Lim denied Hong Kong visa, Beijing link suspected
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, Oct 31: Beijing has denied Hong Kong visa to Taiwanese legislator Freddy Lim of New Power Party, Taiwan’s third largest political party, media reports say.
Freddy Lim, the musician turned politician and outspoken advocate of Taiwanese independence had to scrap his plan to attend a concert of Cantopop star Sam Hui Koon-kit in Hong Kong on Saturday as his visa application was turned down on the same day, reports hongkongfp.com, Oct 31.
“I’m not surprised that I’m barred from entering Hong Kong, after all, I heard that applications of Hong Kong visas are sent to Beijing for approval,” the report quoted Lim as saying after his visa application was turned down.
“Hongkongers and the international community know that the Chinese government’s promises of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and ‘Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong’ were broken long ago,” Lim added.
The singer last visited Hong Kong in 2014 when his band held a concert in the territory. Lim became the sixth Taiwan politician to be barred from entering Hong Kong in the last three months.
Lim visited Dharamsala earlier in September along with a 10-member delegation from Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan (HRNTT), following which a group of 30 Taiwanese legislators formed ‘Taiwan Parliamentary Group for Tibet’ with the rock and roll politician at the helm on Oct 7.
