Wu Chi-wai: Hong Kong activist allowed to stay in UK after facing deportation

Former Hong Kong opposition leader Wu Chi-wei has been allowed to stay in Britain with his family for six months after initially being detained at the border.

Wu arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport last Wednesday and was detained for 10 hours, initially refusing entry, he told BBC Chinese. He later said he was told he could only stay for a week, after which he would have to report to the airport to leave.

But on Monday, UK Border Force approved his entry and said he was allowed a six-month formal stay.

The 63-year-old was the leader of the now-defunct Democratic Party and one of the most recognizable faces of the city’s defunct democracy movement.

Wu is one of the Hong Kong 47, a group of pro-democracy leaders jailed after a controversial national security trial.

He was released in June after spending more than five years in prison on illegal and other charges.

His son and his wife moved to the United Kingdom in 2022 and 2023, and since then his contact with them has been limited to monthly phone calls and letters, Wu told BBC Chinese. He added that he hoped to meet his family in England during his recent visit.

Before the trip, Wu said he had consulted with staff at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong and asked if there would be any problems with his entry.

“The information I have received is that there will be nothing,” he said, adding that consular staff would explain his criminal record and travel history to the UK Border Force.

The Border Force said a family-only visit would not be considered a “genuine visitor”.

Wu denies that he intended to seek political asylum in the UK – a claim previously reported in the media.

Hong Kong Watch, a rights group that has called on UK authorities to allow Wu to stay in the country, said in a statement that it welcomes the latest news.

“This is the right result, and it shouldn’t have taken this long,” Hong Kong Watch policy director Megan Khoo said in a statement on Monday.

“He should never have had to face the prospect of going back to the city where he was imprisoned.”