28 November,2015 08:04 AM IST | | Agencies
Anastasia Lin was denied permission to board a flight from Hong Kong to the Miss World finals in mainland China, a move the Chinese-born attributes to her record of speaking out against human rights abuses in the country
Hong Kong: A Canadian beauty queen lashed out at Beijing on Thursday, saying she was barred from boarding a flight from Hong Kong to China to compete in a pageant because of her human rights activism.
Lin walks away from the airline counter after she was denied entry in China. Pic/PTI
Chinese-born Anastasia Lin, a 25-year-old actress crowned Miss World Canada in May, said that China had blocked her from travelling to the seaside resort city of Sanya for the Miss World contest.
Speaking from Hong Kong's international airport, where she had been stopped from taking a flight for mainland China, Lin said the Chinese authorities were suppressing people who "dare to speak their minds".
"I believe the Chinese government is angry at me because my work brings attention to these (human rights) issues. I knew there was a big risk I could be barred but I didn't want to give up unless I had exhausted all my options," Lin said.
The actress has appeared in films depicting sensitive issues in China, ranging from corruption to suppression of religion. The beauty queen has actively denounced human rights abuses in China, both on film and in public comments. Lin had earlier claimed Chinese security agents coerced her father into pressuring her to abandon her human rights advocacy.
