Thai police deputy commander has deemed Joshua Wong, the Hong Kong student activist, a threat to Thailand’s national security who should not be allowed to enter the country, adding there is no pressure from any country.
On 7 October 2016, The Royal Thai Police Deputy Commissioner Pol Gen Sriwara Rangsipramanakul said that the detention of 19-year-old student activist Joshua Wong, a key leader of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement and Secretary-General of the Demosistō Party, is purely a judgment of Thailand’s Immigration Office, reported Matichon Online.
Sriwara said the Hong Kong activist might incite conflict within the country and can be deemed a threat to Thailand’s national security. He also stated that it is Thailand’s sovereignty to allow and not allow any individual to enter the country and there is no pressure from any foreign country.
This is, however, contradicts previous reports that Thai authorities have to detain the activist and later sent him back to Hong Kong at the request of the Chinese government.
China’s Foreign Ministry also launched a short statement on 5 October refusing to answer if the detention was a China’s request, reported Voice TV.
Wong was invited to the Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, to give a talk on politics of the new generation at an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the 6 October massacre of over a hundred pro-democracy students and bystanders at Thammasat University in 1976 by military and paramilitary forces.
Even though Wong was barred to enter the country, He managed to give a speech at the event through a skype call.
According to Matichon Online, Sriwara also said that police have already investigated Wong’s speech and found nothing breaching the law.
Audiences of the 6 October commemorative event listen to Joshua Wong’s live skype