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Tiananmen Square protest leader refused entry to Hong Kong



A leader of China's 1989 pro-democracy movement was put on a plane back to the US Tuesday after attempting to enter Hong Kong for the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Xiang Xiaoji was turned away by immigration officials at Hong Kong International Airport on Monday evening, after flying to the former British colony to attend a series of events marking the June 4 anniversary.

Xiang, one of the student leaders who spoke to government officials in Beijing ahead of the 1989 massacre, in which hundreds and possibly thousands of protesters were killed, is living in exile in the US.

He had previously been allowed into Hong Kong in 1999 to attend a pro-democracy conference but on this occasion was put back on a plane to New York early Tuesday morning.

Hong Kong, which reverted to Chinese rule in 1997, is the only place on Chinese soil where the 1989 massacre can be publicly commemorated thanks to its mini-constitution guaranteeing political freedoms.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in a candlelight vigil in the city's Victoria Park to mark the 20th anniversary of the massacre and to call on China to reverse its official verdict on the incident.

Three other Chinese dissidents living in the US have also been refused entry to Hong Kong ahead of the anniversary events. Wang Dan and Wang Juntao were refused visas in the US while Yang Jianli was turned away on arrival.

Another former student leader, Xiong Yan, who was once on a list of the 21 most-wanted people in China after the 1989 incident, was allowed to enter Hong Kong on Saturday, however.

Hong Kong's Immigration Department refused to comment on any of the cases

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