Canada Miss World Denied Entry Into China Over Comments

Anastasia Lin is an actress who believes her outspoken advocacy of human rights in her native China played a big role in her winning bid in May to become Canada's contestant in the Miss World pageant.But then the host country for the global beauty pageant was changed from Australia to China, and now the Communist country appears to have singled Lin out among the contestants and is stalling over her visa application. As a result, Canada may not be represented at all in the pageant on Dec. 19 in Sanya, China.
Ike Lalji, the chief executive of Miss World Canada, said he assured officials at the pageant's London headquarters that Lin would focus on the competition and not go out of her way to draw attention to her involvement in Falun Gong, a spiritual group outlawed in China.
"She's not going to do anything crazy over there that's going to upset the government of China," he said. "Our whole approach is to do it peacefully. If anything is going to happen, it's going to happen in a very civilized way."
However, as a vocal supporter of Falun Gong, Lin is almost certain to be denied entry into China, with no formal reason provided.
China outlawed Falun Gong as an "evil cult" in 1999 and allows no public discussion of the movement or alleged human rights abuses connected with its suppression. Chinese law allows for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone suspected of supporting or propagating religious movements not officially approved by the state.