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Hong Kong activist held in Thailand 'at China's request'

Mr Wong, a leader of the so-called Umbrella Movement in 2014 and co-founder of Hong Kong political party Demosisto, had been invited to give a talk at Chulalongkorn University, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a right-wing massacre of leftist students in Thammasat University in 1976.

Chotipatpaisal says Thai airport authorities told him they had received a letter from the Chinese government, but didn't reveal its contents.

Thai Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha confirmed the deportation was requested by China.

The Thai Foreign Ministry said in a statement permission for Wong to enter Thailand "involves various factors".

"It's out of my expectation to have (faced) this kind of suppression from the Thai government". He said that he would only be told the reasons for his detention after his release, and his requests to contact a lawyer or his family were denied.

Hong Kong, a former British colony of 7.3 million people which is now a semi autonomous Chinese territory, has maintained an independent judiciary under a separate constitution.

Thailand has responded to a number of requests from Beijing to repatriate rights activists and dissidents, some of whom had already been granted political refugee status by the United Nations and were awaiting resettlement in a third country.

Wong and the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement have become a source of inspiration for some student activists in Thailand.

"Thailand has previously forcibly returned Chinese national activists, asylum-seekers and others to China under apparent pressure from Chinese authorities, in violation of the principle of non-refoulement", it said.

"What crime has he committed to the Beijing Government now being alleged to have used diplomatic channels to tell a foreign government, in this case the Thai Government, to bar entry from this young student leader from Hong Kong", Ms Mo said.

"Thailand's arrest of Joshua Wong. sadly suggests that Bangkok is willing to do Beijing's bidding", its China director, Sophie Richardson, said in an email.

"China respects Thailand's exercise of immigration control according to the law", it added.

Wong's detention also comes nearly a year after Hong Kong bookseller Gui Minhai disappeared in Thailand.Gui later resurfaced in China, one of a number of men detained by Chinese authorities over their involvement in the selling of titles critical of Beijing's leaders.

Joshua Wong delivers a speech as protesters block the main street to the financial Central district, outside the government headquarters building in Hong Kong Oct. 1, 2014.

In May 2015, Wong was denied entry to Malaysia where he had been set to take part in talks about democracy in China.

The protests brought parts of the territory to a standstill for almost three months.

"A$3 fter which they used a very intimidating voice to say 'Here, we can treat you very well, or purposely make things hard for you, you know to what extent we can do this - so which do you want?"

His party Demosisto wants a referendum on Hong Kong's future, including the option of independence.

stayontheblack.com

Hong Kong activist held in Thailand 'at China's request'