A Liberal Democrat MP who was turned away from Hong Kong by the Chinese authorities has warned Britain risks getting too close to China.
Wera Hobhouse said she was concerned about the potential existence of a “hidden blacklist”, which could secretly bar MPs from entering the former British territory after she was halted while trying to visit her baby grandson.
Several MPs have already been publicly banned by the Chinese government. Ms Hobhouse said the UK risked “falling into the arms of false friends” as it seeks a closer relationship with the country.
The Bath MP was held at passport control after a lengthy delay while travelling to visit family. She is a member of the inter-parliamentary alliance on China (IPac), which scrutinises British and Chinese relations.
She told LBC: “In the absence of any explanation all we can do is guess, there were some MPs who were barred from entry into Hong Kong a few years ago, so it was open, they knew that they couldn’t enter.
“I turn up without any warning and being barred from entering Hong Kong was a real shock, and there must be some sort of hidden blacklist and this is of course why people want to get to the bottom of it. We want to know, and this is where me and the Foreign Office should really ask the ambassador and the Chinese authorities to give us an explanation.”
Ms Hobhouse was visiting her son, an academic who has lived in Hong Kong since 2019 and his newborn son. China has previously banned several British MPs from entering the country, including Ipac members Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Nusrat Ghani, and former security minister Tom Tugendhat.
It is believed to be the first time a British MP has been refused entry to Hong Kong since the UK handed it back to China in 1997.
She added: “I’m not particularly a China critic, yes I’m on Ipac, but so are many others. Is any UK MP barred from entering Hong Kong because we are standing up for freedom and democracy and human rights?
“I mean, where would we be if none of us can speak up for what our democracy is actually based on, and stand in solidarity with those people who live in countries where those values are somewhat shaky.”
Ms Hobhouse urged the need for an audit on UK and China relations, and cautioned against any closer partnership.
She said: “China is not a strategic ally, in fact in some cases it could be argued it’s the opposite. And they’re not a democracy, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) are only interested to expand their influence over countries like the UK. We should be pretty clear eyed about that.”
She added: “There is such a thing as a UK-China audit, where we should really look at the risks to some of our strategic national interests, and make sure that we are not in some sort way, falling into the arms of false friends.”
Treasury minister James Murray said his Labour colleague Douglas Alexander, who is trade minister, had raised it with authorities in China while in the country on an official visit.
Mr Murray told Times Radio: “We need to find out what happened, but it’s clear it would not be right to prevent a British MP from entering another country purely on the basis of what they had said as a parliamentarian.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has been contacted for comment.
