Overseas Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Nathan Law denied entry to Singapore

BEIJING (AP) — An activist wanted by the Hong Kong government said he was denied entry to Singapore over the weekend for what he presumes were political reasons.

Nathan Law, who fled Hong Kong in 2020 and is based in London, said he was detained at the Singapore airport on Saturday night and told four hours later that his entry had been denied. Ten hours after that, he boarded a plane back to San Francisco on Sunday.

He was going to attend a closed-door, invitation-only event, he said in a statement, without elaborating.

Law is one of a number of Hong Kong activists who have left the city in recent years after the adoption of a National Security Law that has put others in prison.

He said he had received a visa from Singapore to attend the event and departed on a flight from San Francisco. No reason was given for the denial, he said.

“I think the decision to deny my entry was political, although I am unsure whether external forces, such as the PRC, are involved, directly or indirectly,” his statement said, referring to China by the acronym for its official name, the People’s Republic of China.

Law said he was held at a facility that he understood “detains people who need to be deported” and declined further comment.

A Singapore government statement confirmed that he had been refused entry, saying a visa holder is subject to further checks at the border. It noted that Hong Kong police have issued a warrant for Law’s arrest under the city’s National Security Law.

“Law’s entry into and presence in the country would not be in Singapore’s national interests,” the statement from the Home Affairs Ministry said.

Eugene Tan, an associate professor of law at Singapore Management University, said the “action of the Singapore authorities in this case is not surprising.”

Authorities are determined that “Singapore does not become a proxy battle ground for foreign politics,” Tan wrote in an email response.

Singapore has an extradition agreement with Hong Kong but it doesn’t appear to cover national security crimes, Tan said.

Hong Kong police issued warrants for Law and other self-exiled activists in 2023 and offered rewards of 1 million Hong Kong dollars ($127,600) for information leading to their arrest.

Law is accused of colluding with foreign parties and inciting secession for allegedly calling for sanctions and Hong Kong’s separation from China in meetings with foreign officials and in open letters, petitions, social media posts and media interviews.

A Hong Kong government statement urged Law to return to the city and surrender to authorities, saying he is suspected of continuing to commit national security offenses since fleeing overseas.

“Fugitives will be pursued for life unless they turn themselves in,” it said.

Hong Kong is a Chinese territory with its own laws and regulations, but the central government in Beijing cracked down in 2020 after massive anti-government the previous year, imposing a National Security Law on the city of 7.5 million people.

Law rose to prominence as a student leader of the pro-democracy Umbrella Revolution in 2014 along with Joshua Wong, who is imprisoned in Hong Kong.

Law was elected to the legislature in 2016 but disqualified after he raised his tone while swearing allegiance to China during the oath of office, making it sound like a question.