lAstweek, my husband and I flew to Hong Kong really excited to meet our family and meet our newborn for the first time. Welcoming your family is a precious moment and this will be a special trip. However, before we arrived at the luggage carousel, we saw our grandchild for the first time and were taken from us for the first time.
Once I arrived at Passport Control, everything seemed fine. I handed my passport to a polite immigration officer, put it in my computer system and paused. At this point I realized something had happened I set a flag.
After being taken to the room for questions, I was interviewed and the package was thoroughly searched. Three hours later I was told I was simply denied entry, and It was bundled for the next flight to London. My passport only returned after I landed in the UK and left the plane.
Through all this, I felt two newest emotions. The pain of not being able to see my family and not being able to see my grandchildren. And confused. I didn’t say anything why I had been deported. Without a satisfactory answer from the Chinese government – It’s simply confirmed It’s “Sar in Hong Kong” [special administrative region] The government has the authority to handle individual immigration cases” – I have to draw my own conclusions. Most vigilant is that I was denied entry because I leveled my role as a British Parliament and criticised Beijing for its human rights abuse.
I am not embarrassed to defend democracy and civil liberty. Those are the values I value It shaped my life. I will never forget to dance with my friends on the Berlin Wall. But they are values that are subject to increased value. Optimism in the 1990s was replaced by belated perceptions. That means we must update and protect our value in the face of a new tide of rising authoritarianism.
Last Thursday I saw that newly encouraging authoritarian sliver. It is opaque and inexplicable and does not provide an explanation. The tools are blackmail and obfuscation. The impact on the UK is severe. We need to be clear about the threat posed by the Chinese government. And we must take action to mitigate these threats.
The Minister should not simply accept this lack of transparency as a cost of business. We must be direct: if you do not straighten and answer legitimate questions, we cannot engage you based on mutual trust. So, until I have a clear answer as to why I was deported, government ministers should not visit China in official projects.
You also need to deal with the risks posed at home. This should start with the government taking immediate steps to prevent further expansion of China’s security equipment in the UK. New Chinese “Super Embassy”. It is clear that the base of a potential “spi dungeon” should be Not built On the former Royal Mint site at the town’s gateway, the government inexplicably refused to rule it out.
The crisis against Scunthorpe Steelworks should also raise new concerns about the role of China’s interests in our national infrastructure. British Steel owner Jingye has decided to decline the government’s £500 million offer to promote the collapse of UK virgin steel production last week. We can’t find ourselves in a similar position again. It’s a cry of trying to save important domestic industries struggling with foreign-based companies that don’t share our interests or ideals.
This adds urgency to the liberal Democrats’ proposal to audit UK-based assets owned by businesses or staff of countries listed as a human rights priority for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including China. Governments should include their own commitment to this UK – China Audit – The initial, anticipated publication of this year will need to be completed urgently as it faces new geopolitical uncertainties.
Our response to the credibility of the Trump administration should not be to throw ourselves into the arms of an authoritarian state like China. We must stand up for our own worth and interests. If the government refuses to get taller now, when will it do it?
