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I had been rejected by the government of India outside the door, and it was a very depressing way back home. I have no reason to doubt that the Chinese authorities were behind the move to impede by India trip—Lu Jinghua
After drawing criticism for its U-turn on granting visa to Uighur activist Dolkun Isa, whom the China call a terrorist, India has withdrawn visas granted to two well-known Chinese dissidents, reports said.
Lu Jinghua and Ray Wong were set to attend a China-focussed pro-democracy conference scheduled in Dharamsala for Thursday.
Jinghua is well-known Chinese activist who fled to the US after the Tiananmen square crackdown and figures on a Chinese list of “major criminals”. She was granted visa to meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, but was reportedly barred from boarding an Air India flight to New Delhi in New York on April 26
“The staff (at the airport) informed me, ‘your visa was refused’,” Lu wrote in Chinese in an April 27 post on her Facebook page.
“They took my passport and made a call to India. After 20 minutes, my passport was returned and said, “Sorry rejected”.
Lu demanded to know why her e-visa was not accepted and approached the Indian consulate in New York.
“The staff there told me that visa processing did not take place here and that I should go to the visa centre,” she wrote on Facebook.
Then she went to the visa processing centre, but a guard told her that the office was closed.
“I was dejected, aware that I had been rejected by the government of India outside the door, and it was a very depressing way back home.
“I have no reason to doubt that the Chinese authorities were behind the move to impede by India trip."
Apart from Jinghua, India also reportedly denied visa to Ra Wong, a Hong Kong-based activist. He is out on bail after being charged with rioting following the unrest in Mong Kok over the Chinese New Year.
The Ministry of External Affairs, however, said the two activists were denied visa as they failed to provide proper documentation. A source at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the visas were not revoked as the two people weren’t granted permission in the first place.
