Miss World Canada Blocked from Entering China to Compete in Pageant
 

Canada's Miss World contestant was stopped in Hong Kong on Thursday and barred from boarding a flight to the beauty pageant finals in China.

In a statement on her Facebook page, China-born Toronto actress Anastasia Lin says she was denied a Chinese visa because of her outspoken advocacy for human rights in the country.

"My denial was unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected," she wrote. "The Chinese government has barred me from the competition for political reasons. They are trying to punish me for my beliefs and prevent me from speaking out about human rights issues."

Despite the denial, Lin boarded a flight to Hong Kong on Wednesday with hopes of obtaining a visa at the border and continuing on to Sanya, on the Chinese island of Hainan, where the Miss World finals are being held, The New York Times reports.

However, Chinese authorities blocked her from boarding her connecting flight, declaring her "persona non grata," or an unwelcome person.

"Ask the Chinese government, why is it afraid to let in a beauty queen?" Lin, 25, said at a news conference at Hong Kong International Airport, according to CNN. "Ask them whether they would also bar Olympic athletes from participating in the Winter Olympic Games just because they have different views that a Communist Party don't agree with?"

In July, Lin testified at a U.S. congressional hearing on religious persecution in China, saying in her testimony that she wanted to "speak for those in China that are beaten, burned and electrocuted for holding to their beliefs," according to her statement on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's website.

Lin practices Falun Gong, a religion deemed an "evil cult" by Chinese officials.

Lin believes she was blocked from entering China for her record of speaking out and for using her Miss World Canada platform to "shed light on official corruption and religious persecution in China," she wrote in an op-ed piece in The Washington Post. Her advocacy, she says, had led to problems for her family in China.

She wrote in her op-ed piece that security officials in China threatened her father, urging him to rein in his daughter's advocacy. When she called him, he hinted that his phone line had been tapped and was being monitored. He even threatened to cut ties with her if she did not stop speaking out against the country's abuses, she wrote.

Her response was the op-ed piece, followed by her testimony at the U.S. congressional hearing. Her father cut her off financially, the Times reports.

The Miss World Organization has not publicly commented on the situation, but Lin's photo is missing from the pageant's website. Lin told the Times, however, that pageant officials offered her a spot in next year's contest.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa issued a statement on Thursday saying that "China Welcomes all lawful activities organized in China … including the Miss World Pageant. But China does not allow any persona non grata to come to China."

in told the Times that being denied entry is "kind of sad," noting that she has "every right to be at the event." But now Lin is using the situation to further broadcast her message.

"When I was told I'm persona non grata, I had to look it up on Wikipedia," she said. "At first I was mad … Now I realize it's a badge of honor."


Miss World Canada Anastasia Lin Blocked from Entering China for Pageant : People.com

Miss World doesn't really care coz China pays them 4.5million to come to host and host the event and they have the rights to all the broadcast revenue.

https://www.change.org/p/chinese-lea...fb_ref=Default

Don't really think the petition will do much.

I mean if China can deny a person Visa to enter just because she is speaking her mind what will happen in the 2022 winter Olympics. Say an athletes won the game or say something that the Chinese gov doesn't like, will they be deny to enter China or will they have their metal strip from them even though they won fair and square?

We have a beauty queen who criticized China's human rights abuses? Is she doing it also to get publicity and raise her profile in order to help her career?

My first reaction was "Meh, I would not smash her". :lawl:

saw that coming back at the beginning of the year, when she came out to the media about her family being threatened in China due to her actions abroad (speaking out against china)...can't imagine she didn't expect trouble getting a visa

edit: oh, she still tried to enter China without a visa

How the hell did she win any miss *anything* titles???

Was she the only contestant?!

:worthless:

It's like night & day eh

http://cache2.asset-cache.net/gc/479...kqYNC4fA%3D%3D

Wat - that can't be the same person... :rukidding:

im pretty sure with the right lighting, it is the same person

This girl could pass off as Michael Jackson's long lost Asian daughter

that nose is fake

:heckno:

Sanya has a special visa agreement that grants visa-free/visa upon landing (for 15days) status to many countries (including Canada)

And I'd believe she's travelling on Canadian passport.

But seriously, China needs to loosen up on its policies. I mean, these are no Chinese citizen. It brings nothing but negative images among western societies; not that they had a good one to begin with.

You can disagree with other's ideology, but at least respect them; the same way we respect the authoritarian regime in China.

And then they wonder why the hostility westerners have against China. :fuckthatshit:

Dumb bitch and her falun gong practitioners. Being used by the America's CIA, to destabilize China. China government dont welcome her, even the Chinese people dont welcome her. U wanna fuck up our country? u gtfo. stop worrying about false human rights/democracy/freedom blah blah. the average Chinese people is living perfectly fine, the best time to be a Chinese is right now. the people there have plenty of freedom.

Stop watching shows like China Uncensored, and TestTube, etc . They are full of bullshit propaganda designed by USA to paint a bad image of China and its people. the western nations are the biggest hypocrite and insecure. dont fall for that.

Even the Falun Gong practitioners themselves in north america (u know the most vocal against china's government). well, most of them have packed up their belongings and headed back to China.

LOL

As much as I am on the fence about this issue. You've reached a new level of idiocy spewing crap like that.

why does china have to let you in :dropsmic:

what in the blue blazing balls in a backyard...


oh wait it's gululu

:fuckthatshit:

did she really expect china to let her in when she proclaims to practice falungong?

lol u guys are brutal
she's not someone i expect to be a world pageant but she's not that bad at all

China has always been a spoiled brat on the international stage. The RoW puts up with her shxt in the past because they wanted to take advantage of her cheap labour for their own gains. And now they continue to put up with her shxt now because of her massive wealth.

Unfortunately, "small" issues like this isn't really gonna result in anything meaningful at all. You are only going to see some semblance of real action if PR China attempts to challenge major international (ie. US) interests -- the South China sea disputes is one such example.

Bingo!
History repeats itself... ie, miss Canada 2003 www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm7XzsINmi4

Gululu is right, there are many things you can do in China that you can't do in America.

For example (Credit to El Dumbasso)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...s/mallcrap.png

#freedom