A British member of parliament has been refused entry to Hong Kong, the first to have received such treatment since the former British colony's return to Chinese rule in 1997. Wera Hobhouse wrote on social media: “Authorities gave me no explanation for this cruel and upsetting blow." The British Consulate in Hong Kong said it was aware a U.K. member of parliament was denied entry into Hong Kong on Thursday and that it was “raising this urgently” with the city’s authorities. Hobhouse is one of more than 40 parliamentarians on the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China that scrutinizes Beijing’s human rights record.
