Leaving Hong Kong for Thailand two nights ago, Demosistō member Joshua Wong Chi-fung was denied entry to Bangkok at the airport by Thai immigration control and detained for 12 hours, then repatriated back to Hong Kong yesterday afternoon.
Regarding the refusal of Joshua Wong's entry, except for opposition legislators and their supporters, most citizens'reaction is:"It serves him right."
Joshua Wong's trip to Thailand was said to "exchange occupation experience" with local university students. Then the refusal of his entry was not only "serving him right" but also something he had to pay for bringing disgrace upon himself. Joshua Wong, self-assured for being a "student movement leader" and "anti-government hero", has long been exalted by the US government, once being nominated for the Time magazine's Person of the Year and appearing on its cover and even invited to "give lectures" in the United States. It was made clear that his trip to Thailand was to continue selling Occupy Central stuff in an attempt to encourage young Thai students to take to the streets and engage in anti-government "Occupy" activities. In face of such provocative behavior of openly "invading" into its territory to create trouble and jeopardise its administration, could it possibly be that the Thai government would behave like a"weakling"that could be easily bullied? It would rather be very absurd if the Thai government would not have kept him out of the door.
On this, the Thai government pointed out in a statement: "The NCPO (National Council for Peace and Order) was aware that Mr. Wong had been active in resistance movements against other foreign governments, and that if such actions were taken within Thailand, they could eventually affect Thailand's relations with other nations."Almost no country in the world would tolerate a foreigner to come and plot a movement leading to political instability there.
Thai authorities has made its position very clear, that is, it does not welcome Joshua Wong and people of that ilk to enter the country to instigate anti-government activities and enanger Thailand's national security.National security is a country's lifeline, so no country or region would welcome any foreigners to come to instigate anti-government activities and endanger its national security.The Thai government was rather tolerant as it simply denied Joshua Wong's entry instead of waiting for him to take actions after entry and then arresting and prosecuting him.
What is outrageous is that Joshua Wong and his supporters have even moved to make unfounded countercharges, asserting that the Thai government was under pressure from the Chinese government to deny his entry. What a joke this is! Thailand is an independent sovereign state which has its own security and interest concerns as well as its own immigration control regulation. It neither needs to nor would take orders from any of other countries. Thailand and China are friendly neighbouring countries, and always respect each other. It is one thing whether Thai government had taken Thai-Chinese relations into consideration when it dealt with Joshua Wong's case, yet it is too absurdly wrong to say that the Thai government had taken an order from the Chinese government to refuse his entry.
In this regard, the Thai government has made it clear in its statement that in Joshua Wong's case it had never received any instruction or order from any foreign government. A spokesman for Chinese Foreign Ministry also said: "I noted the relevant reports. China respects Thailand's exercise of immigration control in accordance with the law."Secretary for Justice Rimsky Yuen Kwok-keung also stressed that each country or region has its own immigration policy and regulation. It is the same with Hong Kong which has its right to manage foreigners'entry and exit.
As a matter of fact, Joshua Wong's being denied entry to Thailand is not the first time for him to be refused entry to a foreign country. In May of last year when he traveled to Malaysia to engage in some activity, the Malaysian government refused his entry on the same reason of "endangering national security". Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police even declared Joshua Wong"persona non grata", straightforwardly saying "We do not need him in Malaysia.""Giving a person enough rope and he will hang himself".Joshua Wong violates laws to resist China and make trouble in Hong Kong. Spreading afar is not his good reputation but his notoriety. Besides his big boos – the United States, no other country would welcome entry of such a "bane".
06 October 2016
