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Lo Hoi-ying

Connor Mycroft

Hong Kong’s immigration policies are “in no way different” from other jurisdictions and all actions are carried out in compliance with the law, the chief executive has said after the Post learned that a French photojournalist was recently denied entry to the city.
A source said Louise Delmotte, who works for Associated Press in Hong Kong, was questioned by authorities when she arrived at the city’s airport as a tourist on September 14.
She was then turned away and repatriated to France.
The insider said her previous work visa expired in the first half of 2024, but her application for an extension was denied during the middle of this year.
Delmotte was known for taking exclusive photos of former Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying at a maximum-security prison in August last year.
Her photos show the 75-year-old Lai wearing shorts and sandals as he is accompanied by two guards at Stanley Prison.
City leader John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday that entry into Hong Kong must be considered in accordance with immigration policies and relevant laws.
“The Immigration Department is doing the same as all other immigration authorities are doing in other jurisdictions,” Lee said. “That is, they will look at the entry’s characteristics and examine the entry in accordance with the policy and the laws.”
He said cases were considered individually and that the city was “doing it in a way no different from other jurisdictions”.
Delmotte, who had previously studied at the University of Hong Kong, has also won multiple photojournalism awards, including for her coverage of the closure of Lai’s Apple Daily newspaper in 2021 and the city’s social-distancing restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement to the Post, the Associated Press said it would continue to maintain a presence in Hong Kong and was working with Delmotte “on the next steps”.
“Louise Delmotte is a talented journalist and we are proud of the important work she has done in Hong Kong for the Associated Press,” it said.

The news agency also said authorities had not shared any reason for the entry denial.
Another source confirmed a French photojournalist was denied entry into the city and the French government had expressed its concern to Hong Kong authorities.
When contacted by the Post, the Immigration Department declined to comment on individual cases. It said it acted in accordance with the law and policies for every case.
The Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (HKPPA) expressed concerns that one of its members had recently been denied entry but stopped short of naming the journalist.
Hong Kong was an international city and had long been a base for major multinational news organisations, various agencies and media companies, it said.
“The HKPPA understands that the law enforcement parties undertake different actions in accordance to different scenarios,” the organisation said.
It urged authorities to step up communication with the industry and provide more open and transparent guidelines on visa approvals, noting more cases of journalists being denied entry had been reported recently.
Hong Kong Journalists Association chairwoman Selina Cheng said visa and entry denials for journalists were becoming routine.
“At best, this sends a mixed message internationally about whether Hong Kong is still the place to be in Asia,” she said.
“At worst, this undermines the government message that Hong Kong welcomes foreign businesses, talent and visitors with open arms.”
Cheng said the association understood that Delmotte had received international awards for her photography in Hong Kong and brought the city to a global audience.
She said the government should keep foreign journalists in the city if it wanted them to “tell a good Hong Kong story” instead of “kicking them out after they took a few photos of a person”.
Delmotte is the latest in a string of activists and reporters denied entry to the city in recent years.
It was revealed last month that Bloomberg journalist Haze Fan was refused a visa to work in Hong Kong.
She was reportedly detained by Chinese authorities in late 2020 and arrested in July 2021 on suspicion of committing crimes endangering national security. The journalist was released in early 2022 without charges.
In April, international NGO Reporters Without Borders said its Taipei-based advocacy officer Aleksandra Bielakowska was denied entry to the city following a six-hour detention and questioning at Hong Kong International Airport.
Last year, Japanese journalist Yoshiaki Ogawa, who had written a book about the 2019 social unrest, was denied entry to the city and sent back to Tokyo.
Freelance Japanese photographer Michiko Kiseki, also known for her work on the anti-government protests, also claimed in a 2023 social media post that she was denied entry to the city the year before.
Additional reporting by Sammy Heung and Harvey Kong


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News

Hong Kong

Society

Post learns Associated Press journalist Louise Delmotte refused entry as tourist on September 14, after earlier being denied work visa extension


Post learns Associated Press journalist Louise Delmotte refused entry as tourist on September 14, after earlier being denied work visa extension.


Press freedom in Hong Kong

Jimmy Lai

Hong Kong media