HONG KONG — The Hong Kong government has defended its immigration procedures following public outcry over the recent denial of entry to British Member of Parliament Wera Hobhouse, who was reportedly refused access to the city while traveling to visit her newborn grandson.
In a statement issued Monday evening, the Hong Kong government emphasized that all immigration decisions are handled “in accordance with the relevant law and immigration policy.” The statement added that immigration officers are obligated to ask questions to confirm the intent of each visitor’s trip.
“The person concerned knows best what he or she has done,” the statement continued. “It will be unhelpful to the person’s case if the person refuses to answer questions put to him or her for that purpose.”
Hobhouse, a Liberal Democrat MP who has served in Parliament since 2017, said she was turned away on Thursday after arriving in Hong Kong. Writing on social media platform Bluesky, she claimed to be “the first MP to be refused entry on arrival to Hong Kong since 1997,” referring to the year the United Kingdom handed control of the city over to China.
According to Hobhouse, Hong Kong immigration officials confiscated her passport, questioned her about her occupation and the purpose of her visit, searched her luggage, and escorted her to the boarding gate for departure. In a Facebook post on Monday, she described the experience as “incredibly tough,” saying, “I just wanted to see [my son] and hold my grandson.”
She added, “Let’s be clear – my treatment is an insult to all parliamentarians, and there must be a full explanation of why it happened.”
The incident has sparked diplomatic concern in the UK. British Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security Douglas Alexander raised the issue directly with Hong Kong Chief Secretary Eric Chan during a meeting on Monday afternoon. A UK government statement said Alexander conveyed “our immediate and deep concern” over the incident and requested a formal explanation from the Hong Kong authorities.
“It would be unacceptable for any MP to be denied entry for simply expressing their views,” the statement read, referencing earlier remarks by Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who called the matter “deeply concerning.”
Hobhouse is also a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), an international coalition of lawmakers advocating for democratic principles and human rights in relation to China. IPAC has frequently criticized Beijing’s policies, and in the ongoing national security trial of media mogul Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong prosecutors accused IPAC of lobbying foreign governments to impose sanctions on Chinese and Hong Kong officials.
The Hong Kong government has not publicly confirmed the reason for Hobhouse’s denied entry.
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