A Chinese-born
Canadian model says she was barred from entering China to participate in the
Miss World pageant.
Anastasia Lin, an
outspoken critic of China’s religious policy, said on Friday she was unable to
board her connecting flight from Hong Kong after a Chinese official told her by
telephone she would not be granted a visa on arrival.
"If they start to censor beauty
pageants - how pathetic is that?'' Lin told The Associated Press in Hong Kong.
In a
pre-departure statement, Lin said denying her entry would mean China was trying
to prevent her from speaking out about human rights issues.
Lin, who moved to
Canada when she was 13, is an outspoken critic of Chinese religious policy, and
a follower of the Falun Gong meditation group. Dubbed a cult, Falun Gong was
outlawed by China's ruling Communist Party in 1999.
Lin said after
she won the Canadian beauty title, Chinese security agents visited her father -
who still lives in China - in an apparent attempt to intimidate her into
silence.
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If this has to do with their religion she should have understand that better. TIMILEYIN BLESSING
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