Lin said that she had been publicly critical of China’s religious policies and is a believer in Falun Gong, a spiritual group that is banned in China and which Beijing describes as a cult.
Advertisement
Google News shows 14,700 results for “Anastasia Lin” and “interview”.
Lin traveled to Hong Kong after Chinese authorities didn’t send her a visa ahead of the Miss World pageant, and declared her “persona non grata”, indicating she wouldn’t be able to enter the country.
Lin said this month that her father had been harassed by Chinese officials after she spoke out about human rights abuses in the communist country. She spoken in regards to the matter into a US Congressional committee in July, and has performed in movies concerning the mistreatment of Falun Gong members.
Unlike other contestants, Lin never received an invitation letter from the Chinese organizers of the event that would have allowed her to get the necessary government approval. The more research she did, she said, the “truth got uglier and uglier”, she said.
Chinese-born Anastasia Lin said she was unable to board her connecting flight from Hong Kong to the southern island province of Hainan after a Chinese official told her by telephone that she would not be granted a visa on arrival. But Lin argues that being outspoken shouldn’t result in being barred from a competition that happens to take place China. During that conversation she was told she could not enter Sanya.
“I’m representing my own country in this competition… if they’re discriminating a country’s representative without giving a reasonable answer then how is China fit to host this kind of global competition?” Ask them whether they will also bar athletes from participating in the 2022 Winter Olympics if they hold views that the Communist Party disagrees with. What if they are of Tibetan or Uighur origin?
Lin, who is an actress and classically trained pianist, told Reuters from Hong Kong’s worldwide airport that she was prevented from boarding a Dragon Air flight to Sanya before further adding that there has been no response from the Chinese authorities so far.
Advertisement
She told United States lawmakers she “wanted to speak for those in China that are beaten, burned and electrocuted for holding to their beliefs – people in prison who eat rotten food with blistered fingers because they dare have convictions”.
