Johnson weighs in as activist is banned from Hong Kong

BORIS JOHNSON has demanded an “urgent explanation” from China after a British human rights activist who has voiced concern over eroding freedoms in Hong Kong was barred from entering the city yesterday.

Benedict Rogers, who has criticised Beijing for tightening its political grip in Hong Kong, had previously been warned that he might be refused entry.

Mr Rogers, the deputy chairman of the Conservative Party’s human rights commission, arrived at Hong Kong airport on a flight from Bangkok but was turned back by immigration officials.

The Foreign Secretary said: “I am very concerned that a UK national has been denied entry...[we] will be seeking an urgent explanation from the Hong Kong authorities and from China.”

Mr Rogers told The Daily Telegraph from Bangkok as he prepared to return

‘What this says to me is that one country, two systems, if not quite dead, is dying or at least decaying fast’

to London that he was “deeply saddened” by his ordeal.

“What this says to me is that one country, two systems, if not quite dead, is dying or at least decaying fast,” he said.