HONG KONG (AP) - A Japanese journalist was barred from getting into Hong Kong with no clear cause and was despatched again to his nation, a Japanese newspaper mentioned, elevating considerations over the town’s shrinking press freedoms.

The Japan Times, a outstanding English-language newspaper, reported Friday {that a} freelance journalist was taken by officers to a room after arriving on the metropolis’s airport Thursday night. Yoshiaki Ogawa, identified for his protection within the monetary hub, was later interviewed for round an hour, it mentioned.

Ogawa mentioned officers solely instructed him that he couldn't be granted permission to remain within the metropolis and he was despatched again to Tokyo on Friday, the report mentioned.

It “truly made me feel how Hong Kong has changed … this would have been unthinkable before,” Ogawa was quoted as saying within the report.

In an e-mail reply to the Associated Press, the Immigration Department in Hong Kong didn't verify the occasions and refused to touch upon particular person circumstances. It added the division acts in accordance with the legal guidelines and insurance policies in dealing with every immigration case.

The entry denial has raised considerations over the erosion of Hong Kong’s press freedom, which was as soon as an indicator of the previous British colony.

Hong Kong returned to China’s rule in 1997 and was promised the proper to retain its Western-style freedoms for 50 years after the handover, however its press scene drastically shrank after the enactment of a Beijing-imposed nationwide safety legislation in 2020.

The legislation was launched after the pro-democracy protests in 2019 and has prosecuted many main Hong Kong activists, together with Jimmy Lai, the founding father of the now-defunct Apple Daily, and different prime administration staffers on the newspaper.

The Japan Times mentioned Ogawa has been carefully following Hong Kong points since 2014 and lined the 2019 motion however he didn't plan to jot down something concerning the metropolis throughout his journey.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders tweeted Friday it was appalled at Ogawa’s ordeal.

Hong Kong was ranked a hundred and fortieth out of 180 international locations and territories within the group’s newest World Press Freedom Index launched in May. The watchdog mentioned the town has skilled an unprecedented setback since 2020, when the safety legislation was launched.

In January, the Hong Kong Journalists Association reported that Japan-based photographer Michiko Kiseki was denied entry to the town in late 2022. The affiliation mentioned she had lined the 2019 protests and was grilled by authorities about her exhibition in Japan.

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