Hong Kong former legislator and pro-democracy activist Ted Hui is welcome to campaign on political issues in Australia and his arrival was not a matter for China, the chair of the Australian parliament’s intelligence committee said on Thursday, angering Beijing, which warned of further damage to already strained ties between the two countries.
In the first comments from an official in the Australian government since Hui arrived from London on Monday, the Chairman of Parliament’s Committee on Intelligence and Security James Paterson said immigration policy was a “purely domestic sovereign issue” for Australia.
“Any visitor to Australia, whether they are a citizen or not, enjoys all the rights and freedoms that Australians enjoy. They enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of political campaign, so he is welcome to do that here,” Paterson, a senator, told ABC radio.