ABC NEWS By China correspondent Bill Birtles 22/03/2018
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| PHOTO: John Hugh planned to stopover in Shanghai for several before flying on to Canada but guards took him off the flight upon arrival. (Supplied) |
An Australian who has been outspoken about Chinese Communist Party
influence says he was denied entry to China and immediately placed on an
11-hour return flight to Sydney.
John Hugh, 51, said he travelled from Sydney to Shanghai on Tuesday
with his 80-year-old mother, intending to stopover for several days before
flying on to Canada, but was taken off the China Eastern flight by two border
inspection guards upon arrival.
His mother was allowed to enter Shanghai on a transit visa and is
staying with relatives.
Mr Hugh, who was born Hu Yuming in Shanghai but has lived in
Australia since 1990, said he wasn't given a reason by the border inspection
guards, but when asked why he was being denied entry, one allegedly replied:
"You should know why."
PHOTO: Mr Hugh was taken off the China Eastern flight by two border
inspection guards upon arrival in Shanghai. (ABC News)
He said the guards told him they wanted to "have a chat"
in an office but didn't have time because they needed to rush him through to
the departure gate for the flight back.
"They took me off the plane at 7:10, opened a special gate for
me at immigration and put me on a plane that was leaving at 8:20", he
said.
"They were very efficient".
Calls to two publicly listed phone numbers for the border-inspection
office at Shanghai's Pudong airport went unanswered on Wednesday.
A switch operator at the airport's General Station of Immigration
Inspection said staff had already finished work for the day.
Mr Hugh is a former Parramatta City councillor and in recent years
became a spokesman for a group called the Embrace Australian Values Alliance,
which successfully campaigned against the staging of Chairman Mao tribute
concerts in Sydney and Melbourne.
Last year, members of the group welcomed UTS academic Feng Chongyi
home to Sydney airport after he was detained by state security agents during a
research trip to southern China.
VIDEO: Clive Hamilton was interviewed after his book was pulled by
leading publisher Allen and Unwin. (ABC News)
Mr Hugh more recently helped organise a launch at NSW Parliament
House of academic Clive Hamilton's controversial book about Chinese Communist Party
influence in Australia, Silent Invasion.
"I think it's maybe revenge", Mr Hugh said.
"The Clive Hamilton book launch may have been the final
straw."
Mr Hugh last visited China in 2014 with a Parramatta City Council
delegation, but said he faced questioning from Chinese consulate officials in
Sydney before being granted a visa.
He said he was now organising flights to Canada to reunite with his
mother and continue their original holiday plan.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-21 /australian-outspoken-about-communist-party-denied-entry-to-china/9573830?section=politics
（This article is reprinted from other source. Its contents, analysis and conclusions may not reflect those as supported or advocated by AVA）
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