Umbrella Revolution activist Joshua Wong was deported from Malaysia today because he is on the immigration black list, Immigration Department director general Mustafa Ibrahim said.
Wong, named the face of Hong Kong’s resistance against China’s influence by Time magazine, was sent back to Hong Kong after he was barred from entering Malaysia at the Penang International Airport this afternoon.
“At the immigration checkpoint, the officer found he was in the list of individuals barred from entering this country,” Mustafa said in a statement.
He did not elaborate on why Wong (photo) is on the immigration blacklist.
“The immigration officer went through the process of rejecting a foreigner from entering the country, according to standard operation procedures.
“According to international procedures, an individual who is barred from entering must be sent back to his originating country and nowhere else,” he said.
The Hong Kong passport holder was sent back to Hong Kong on Dragon Air flight KA634 which departed at 12.50pm.
IGP: Wong will harm relations with Beijing
However, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the authorities were afraid of harming ties with Beijing.
"We were afraid that what he was going to speak about would harm our security,” he told AFP.
"He was also going to speak about China. We know his anti-Chinese speeches. We do not want him to jeopardise our ties with China," Khalid (photo) reportedly said.
Wong was invited by Malaysian NGOs to speak at various events nationwide, in conjunction with the anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. Organisers say the events will go on as planned .
Asked earlier, Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said individuals are usually barred from entering due to national security concerns .
However, he said he needed to check with the Immigration Department why the 18-year-old, who sparked the Occupy Hong Kong movement which made headlines worldwide, was barred.
Yesterday, a pro-Umno blog claimed that Wong was sponsored to come to Malaysia by the opposition to plant the seeds of revolution and destabilise the country.
It claimed co-organiser and book publisher DuBook Press is a “leftist” organisation spearheaded by activist Hishamuddin Rais, but this was denied by DuBook who maintained that it is apolitical.
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