Wu Chi-wai granted six-month UK stay after Heathrow detention, lawyer says

Former pro-democracy Hong Kong lawmaker Wu Chi-wai has been admitted to Britain as a visitor for six months after being held at Heathrow airport and facing removal, his lawyer and Hong Kong Watch said Monday.

Wu, 63, holds a British National (Overseas) passport. He was held shortly after landing at Heathrow last week, and his lawyer Paul Harris told AFP that Wu had been due to be removed on Wednesday.

Harris said the Home Office informed Wu on Monday afternoon that he was “now admitted as a visitor for six months”. He said that was “what should have happened last Wednesday when he arrived”.

The Home Office told AFP it “remains steadfast in its support for members of the Hong Kong community in the UK” but does not “routinely comment on individual cases”. An earlier Home Office statement said authorities were working to resolve a paperwork issue and said the detention was not related to Wu’s conviction record in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Watch said Wu had been granted six months’ leave to remain and had the right to apply for a visa to stay longer. Megan Khoo, the rights group’s policy director, said Wu “should never have faced the prospect of removal back to the city that jailed him” and called the decision “the right outcome”.

Wu was a former lawmaker and leader of Hong Kong’s now-disbanded Democratic Party. He was released last month after serving four years and five months in prison for subversion convictions under a national security law imposed by Beijing in 2020.

Britain launched its BNO visa scheme in 2021 in response to the security law, which followed Hong Kong’s large and sometimes violent democracy protests in 2019. The earlier story said more than 230,000 people had been granted a visa under the scheme and more than 170,000 had moved to Britain.