A List of Foreigners Barred from Hong Kong
#12 in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor series
The Hong Kong Repression Monitor series provides overviews of indicators of repression in Hong Kong, based on research and data collected from 2019 to the present. For more information, see the introduction, which also has a full list of entries in the series as they are published.
This article is #12 in the Hong Kong Repression Monitor series.
UPDATED on July 15, 2026: American writer Susan Blumberg-Kason reported that she attempted to get a short-term work visa in order to attend a cultural event in early 2026 to which she was invited by a Hong Kong organization. In response to her visa application, she was contacted by the Hong Kong Immigration Department which in two emails asked her questions about her past literary activities and Instagram and Twitter posts from 2019 and 2020 which referred to the Hong Kong protests and police brutality. As a result of this process, her visa application was delayed and the events in which she was to participate had to be cancelled. She did not ever receive a final decision on her visa application, but the political screening through which she was put effectively meant that she was unable to enter Hong Kong. Because of this and because the emails she received revealed the extent to which Hong Kong immigration authorities are engaging in political screening, her case is included in this list. Now, in all, since 2019, there have been at least 22 publicly reported cases of foreigners being barred entry, having been denied work visas, or having been political screened by immigration authorities in such as manner that they were unable to enter Hong Kong.
UPDATED on April 24, 2026: France Télévisions journalist Antoine Vedeilhe was barred entry to Hong Kong on November 2, 2025. At the time, he was undertaking an investigation as part of a documentary he was making on “Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong,” and information about his detention and deportation has not been reported until now in order to protect his sources. A cameraman he was working with was allowed to enter Hong Kong and reported he was followed by unknown indiviuals whom he suspected of being linked to the national security police. A hacking attempt was made on Vedeilhe’s email account. France Télévisions received an email from an unknown individual threatening both the reporter and the news outlet, and claiming that his reporting could constitute “incitement of hatred.” Now, in all, there have been at least 21 publicly reported cases of foreigners being barred entry or having been denied work visas since 2019.
UPDATED on August 22, 2025 to add Bloomberg journalist Rebecca Choong Wilkins who had her visa renewal application denied. Now, since 2019, at least eight foreign journalists have been denied work visa renewals and/or barred from entering Hong Kong, including some working for prominent outlets, Associated Press, The Economist, and New York Times, as well as Bloomberg.
UPDATED on April 14, 2025 to add UK MP Wera Hobhouse, who was prevented from entering Hong Kong on April 10 at the airport. Her son works in Hong Kong, and she was planning to see her three-month-old grandson for the first time. While journalists, human rights advocates, democracy supporters, scholars, leaders of the 1989 protests in China and others have been barred from Hong Kong, Hobhouse is the first parliamentarian.
Over the past seven years, a pattern has emerged of the Hong Kong Immigration Department barring entry to certain foreigners and denying work visas to other foreigners.
What does that have to do with repression?
In general, it has to do with the closing of Hong Kong to ideas and views which the regime finds threatening or antithetical to its rule. In this sense, it is closely related to the censorship that has become pervasive throughout Hong Kong.
It’s also related to the cutting off of Hong Kongers from the rest of the world. While the regime wants Hong Kong to remain an international finance hub, it doesn’t want certain lines of thought or discourse to have any voice among Hong Kong people. In this sense, the barring of entry and denial of visas to foreigners resembles other measures such as the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties for exiled Hong Kongers, the attempts to get international media and tech companies to block the song, “Glory to Hong Kong,” on the internet in Hong Kong, and national security crimes like “collusion with external forces.”
In so far as the black list targets journalists—and there are quite a few journalists on the list—, it is meant to discourage critical news coverage of Hong Kong in the international press. Over recent years, the Hong Kong government has adopted a policy of consistently and rigorously decrying critical international news coverage, and the policy of denying entry and/or visas to journalists working for foreign news organizations complements that. There has been a decided drop in international news coverage of Hong Kong, just as there has been of China. This is partly because as China and Hong Kong have become more repressive, there is less happening that is worthy of coverage. Indeed, sometimes China and Hong Kong can seem like news dead zones. But at the same time, it is also because the regime has made it more difficult for foreign news organizations to practice journalism and there are fewer foreign journalists based in Hong Kong and less commitment on the part of foreign news organizations to covering it. Several news outlets have either fully or partially moved their offices out of Hong Kong, including The New York Times, Initium, and Radio Free Asia.
Related to this, as Hong Kongers see the increasing antipathy of the regime toward foreign news organizations and human rights advocates, they are becoming more careful about speaking to them, and there is a rise in the number of people who will only agree to be interviewed if the interview is conducted anonymously or prefer not to take part at all.
Lastly, overall, there is a feeling that whereas Hong Kong previously had a reputation as a free, come-and-go-as-you-please sort of place, now, increasingly, there are walls everywhere: prison walls, and borders that have become more difficult to cross and impermeable for some, both for Hong Kongers who wish to leave and foreigners who wish to enter, for no other reason than their political views.
Going all the way back to the Beijing Olympics torch relay in 2008, the Hong Kong government has barred a small number of “politically suspect” people from entering, but up to 2018, its efforts seemed half-hearted, scattershot, and directed at one type of person in particular—student leaders of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in China. Wu’er Kaixi and Wang Dan were barred from Hong Kong in 2011 when they wished to attend the funeral of Szeto Wah, one of the founders of Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, the now-defunct organizer of the annual June 4 candlelight vigil. Hong Kong again denied entry to Wu’er Kaixi in 2013 when he wished to pass through on his way to China to turn himself in to Chinese authorities. Xiong Yan was barred in 2015, when he wished to attend the candlelight vigil; this although he’d been allowed to enter for the same reason in 2009. And as recently as 2019, Feng Congde was barred (he wanted to attend the candlelight vigil), as was Zhou Fengsuo (he wanted to take part in the protests).
But while there had been a rather spotty pattern of barring entry to Hong Kong for obviously political reasons, the barring of Financial Times editor Victor Mallet and refusal to renew his work visa in 2018—note, before the 2019 mass protests—marked a decisive turning point: This was the first time a journalist had been barred and the first time the regime was obviously retaliating for a specific act committed by a journalist performed in the course of his duties.
While the Hong Kong Immigration Department always refuses to provide any public explanation for why a particular individual is barred from entering Hong Kong, Victor Mallet’s “crime” was perfectly clear: in August 2018, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong hosted a talk with Andy Chan, the leader of the Hong Kong National Party, which was explictly pro-independence. Mallet was vice-president of the FCC at the time, and in that capacity, was the MC of the event. The FCC hosted many such talks with speakers holding a wide variety of political views. But the regime took particular exception to this one. Mallet had been working in Hong Kong for some time, but his application for renewal of his work visa was denied. When he attempted to return to Hong Kong from a visit to Thailand, he was interrogated for four hours at the airport and then allowed to enter Hong Kong, but only for seven days. When he later, in November, attempted to enter Hong Kong as a tourist, he was barred. (In the meantime, in September, the National Party became the first political party ever to be banned in Hong Kong, though it is worth stressing that it was not illegal at the time Mallet moderated the talk with Chan.)
That was prologue. It didn’t happen again until about a year later: Scholar Dan Garrett was barred in September 2019. This too looked like direct retaliation: Dan had just testified in Congress at a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Committee on China about Hong Kong’s “Summer of Discontent.”
After that, four people were barred or denied visas in 2020; one denied a visa in 2021; one barred in 2022; four in 2023; five in 2024; and three in 2025.
In all, there are 31 publicly reported cases of people who have been barred entry or denied a work visa between 2008 and 2025. Twenty-one of those incidents have occurred since 2019, a sign that these tools are being increasingly employed by the regime in this new authoritarian era. Twenty-three have been barred from entering Hong Kong. Six had been working in Hong Kong and were denied renewal of their work visas. Two were denied work visas. One had been working in Hong Kong and when he attempted to take up a new job was denied a work visa.
It should be noted that Hong Kong, like other jurisdictions, routinely bars entry and denies visas to tens of thousands of people a year. Just in the first ten months of 2024, Hong Kong barred entry to about 23,000 people. Pre-pandemic, the immigration authorities barred entry to upwards of 50,000 people per year, the vast majority of them due to “doubtful purpose of visit.” As stated above, the Immigration Department has always refused to comment on particular cases, and those turned away have repeatedly reported that they were given no reason for being barred. But in October 2024, the Director of Immigration came close to giving a general explanation. He said, “Hong Kong welcomes genuine visitors. But we have the duty to guard the southern gate of our country. We will strictly inspect [the visits] of unwelcomed individuals and bar them from entering when needed.” In other words, those listed below appear to be barred on “national security” grounds. His words are also an implicit admission of the existence of black list, something which authorities have repeatedly denied.
Foreigners Barred from Hong Kong
The cases appear below in chronological order, from the most recent to the oldest. Information in each entry is presented in the following order: name of the individual, their profession or position, their organizational affiliation, their nationality, the date they were barred from entering Hong Kong or their application for a work visa was denied; and the probable reason they were barred or had their application rejected.
Antoine Vedeilhe, Journalist, French. On April 24, 2026, RSF reported that he was barred entry to Hong Kong on November 2, 2025. At the time, he was undertaking an investigation as part of a documentary he was making on “Beijing’s tightening grip on Hong Kong,” and information about his detention and deportation has not been reported until now in order to protect his sources. A cameraman he was working with was allowed to enter Hong Kong and reported he was followed by unknown indiviuals whom he suspected of being linked to the national security police. A hacking attempt was made on Vedeilhe’s email account. France Télévisions received an email from an unknown individual threatening both the reporter and the news outlet, and claiming that his reporting could constitute “incitement of hatred.”
Rebecca Choong Wilkins, Journalist, citizenship unknown. On August 22, 2025, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong reported that she had had her visa renewal application denied. She had been a reporter for Bloomberg in Hong Kong for six years. The next day, media covered the matter and she posted the following:
Commenting on the most recent expulsion of a journalist from Hong Kong, Hong Kong Journalists Association head, Selina Cheng, said there have been more cases of visa denials than have been openly reported, continuing, “We have also heard an increasing number of examples where expatriates wishing to renew or obtain a visa to work in Hong Kong were asked literally hundreds of questions about their past background. Authorities solicited information and documents such as months worth of bank statements and lists of dates they met diplomats from their home countries.”
Wera Hobhouse, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom. Barred entry on April 10, 2025; on a private visit her three-month-old grandson for the first time. First parlimentarian to be denied entry. Hong Kong authorities have become increasingly paranoid about “foreign interference;” Hobhouse is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, which the regime views as anti-China.
Hobhouse has called on the UK government to impose reciprocal entry bans on Chinese politicians. She was finally able to meet her infant grandson…in Dubai. Due to the Hong Kong government, he had to travel to meet her rather than the other way ‘round.
Louise Delmotte, Photojournalist, Associated Press, French. Renewal of work visa denied and barred entry to Hong Kong on September 14, 2024. Took photos of Jimmy Lai in prison in July 2023.
David Missal, Activist, Tibet Initiative Deutschland, Freiheit für Hong Kong, German, September 8, 2024. Associated with Hong Kong and Tibet advocacy groups.
Haze Fan, Journalist, Bloomberg, Chinese. Employer announced to fellow employees on August 21, 2024 that she had been denied a work visa in Hong Kong. Had been detained in China.
Uryu Hirano, Activist, Japanese advocacy group for Hong Kong, Japanese. Barred from entering Hong Kong on June 28, 2024. Outspoken advocacy for freedom in Hong Kong; said she was planning to go to Causeway Bay on the third anniversary of Leung Kin-fai stabbing a police officer then killing himself on July 1, 2021.
Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Officer, Reporters Without Borders, Taiwan resident. Barred from entering Hong Kong on April 10, 2024. Was coming to Hong Kong to monitor press freedom, in particular, the trial of Jimmy Lai; other representatives of RSF had been admitted to Hong Kong on previous recent occasions.
Rowena He, Scholar, Chinese University of Hong Kong, nationality unknown; now a US resident. Denied renewal of her work visa on October 24, 2023, then fired by CUHK. Known for studying and teaching about the Tiananmen Massacre.
Matthew Connors, Photojournalist and professor, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, American. Barred entry to Hong Kong twice, on January 2, 2020 and August 16, 2023. Had been arrested while covering the 2019 protests but was not charged. Interview.
Yoshiaki Ogawa, Journalist and author, Freelance, Japanese. Barred from entering Hong Kong on June 29, 2023. Covered Hong Kong and wrote a book about the Hong Kong protests.
Mr Wally, Street performer, Japanese. Denied entry to Hong Kong on June 12, 2023. Had previously performed in Hong Kong and expressed pro-democracy sympathies.
Michiko Kiseki, Photographer, Freelance, Japanese. Barred entry to Hong Kong on December 30, 2022. Had held an exhibition in Japan of photos of the 2019 mass protests in Hong Kong.
Sue-lin Wong, Journalist, The Economist, Australian. Application for renewal of her work visa rejected on November 15, 2021. Had been China correspondent.
Aaron McNicholas, Journalist and editor, Hong Kong Free Press, Irish. Employer announced on August 27, 2020 that he had been denied a work visa after a wait of more than half a year. Had experience working in Hong Kong and covering the 2019 protests.
Chris Buckley, Journalist, New York Times, Australian. Employer mentioned on July 14, 2020 that he had been denied a work visa. Was denied renewal of work visa in China in May 2020.
Ken Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, American. Barred from entering Hong Kong on January 19, 2020. Prominent human rights advocate; had planned to launch HRW’s annual report in Hong Kong.
Dan Garrett, Scholar, American. Was barred from entering Hong Kong on September 24, 2019. Had recently testified about Hong Kong at a hearing of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
Zhou Fengsuo, Tiananmen leader, US resident. Barred from entering Hong Kong on June 30, 2019. Leader of 1989 China pro-democracy protests, wished to participate in the mass protests; had been allowed to enter Hong Kong in 2014 during the Umbrella Movement..
Feng Congde, Tiananmen leader, US resident. Barred from entering Hong Kong on June 3, 2019. Leader of 1989 China pro-democracy protests, wished to attend June 4 candlelight vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Massacre.
Victor Mallet, Journalist and editor, Financial Times, French. Denied renewal of work visa on October 2, 2018. Barred from entering Hong Kong as a tourist on November 8, 2018. Moderated a talk in August by pro-independence Hong Kong National Party leader Andy Chan at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong where Mallet was vice-president.
Benedict Rogers, Chairman of Trustees, Hong Kong Watch, British. Barred from entering Hong Kong on October 11, 2017. Outspoken critic of human rights situation and advocate for democracy in Hong Kong.
Xiong Yan, Tiananmen leader, American. Barred from entering Hong Kong on April 22, 2015. Leader of 1989 China pro-democracy protests, had been invited to take part in June 4 commemoration activities.
Wu’er Kaixi, Tiananmen leader, Taiwan resident. Barred from entering Hong Kong on January 26, 2011 and November 25, 2013. Leader of 1989 China pro-democracy protests. In 2011, wished to attend the funeral of Szeto Wah, one of the founders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China which held the annual June 4 candlelight vigil; in 2013, wished to turn himself in to Chinese authorities.
Wang Dan, Tiananmen leader, Taiwan resident. Barred from entering Hong Kong on January 26, 2011. Leader of 1989 China pro-democracy protests, wished to attend the funeral of Szeto Wah, one of the founders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China which held the annual June 4 candlelight vigil.
Zhang Yu, Journalist, Independent Chinese PEN Center, Sweden resident. Barred from entering Hong Kong on April 30, 2008. Head of Independent Chinese PEN, wished to attend a freedom of expression conference at the time the Olympic torch was to pass through Hong Kong.
Jens Galschiøt, Artist, Danish. Barred from entering Hong Kong on April 26, 2008 and May 30, 2009. Sculpted Pillar of Shame memorial to Tiananmen Massacre victims. In 2008, the Beijing Olympics torch was set to come through Hong Kong while he would have been there. In 2009, wished to attend the June 4 candlelight vigil commemorating the Tiananmen Massacre on its 20th anniversary.
