Anastasia Lin wanted to participate in the final of Miss World in China. She has been stuck at the international airport of Hong Kong, because she "is not welcome". She belongs to the Falun Gong movement, whose members are branded as "heretics" and persecuted by the authorities. "They want to keep me from talking about human rights. I have been excluded from the competition for political reasons".

Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Chinese authorities have denied entry visas to Anastasia Lin, elected Miss Canada last May, while on her way to the Chinese island of Hainan to participate in the finals of Miss World. The girl is blocked at the international airport of Hong Kong, where she made a stopover. "The reason is my commitment to human rights," said the model, 25, of Chinese origin, who moved to Toronto in 2003.
Anastasia said she had not received an invitation to the event, and tried to go to Hong Kong from where the entrance to the island resort of Hainan is easier for citizens of some nationalities, including Canadian. The Chinese embassy in Ottawa noted however that "China does not permit entry to undesired people".
The girl is in this category because she is part of the Falun Gong movement, which China has branded as "heretical organization" and "threat to social and political stability". Falun Gong is a practice of meditation and physical exercises inspired by Buddhist and Taoist traditions. In China, there are about 100 million followers, victims of persecution and arrests.

In July the model also participated in a hearing of the US Congress on the subject of religious persecution, during which she said she wanted "to testify in favor of those in China who are beaten, burned to death or executed in the electric chair for their beliefs ".
Following her speech, the girl's father - who lives in the country of origin - was beaten savagely by the police "because I denounced the abuse of human rights in the communist country."

Anastasia told reporters at the airport: "The rejection of my entry is unpleasant, but it was predictable. The Chinese government has excluded me from the competition for political reasons. " She concluded: "They want to punish me for my religious beliefs and stop me from speaking truthfully the issue of respect for human rights." The organizers of the competition stated that they will offer the model a place for the 2016 edition.

• china
• miss
• canada
• persecution
• falun
• gong
• human
• rights
• religious
• liberty