Wu Chi-wai, former chairman of what was once the largest opposition party in Hong Kong, was jailed there for over five years for practicing democracy after the Chinese Communist Party imposed the anti-democracy National Security Law on Hong Kong in 2020.
Recently, having been released from prison, Wu (shown above) left Hong Kong to rejoin his family in Great Britain. On July 22, 2026, he was detained for hours at Heathrow Airport. Border officials at first denied Wu entry, then told him he could stay for only a week.
Now this decision has been reversed (BBC, July 27, 2026).
Wu had arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport last Wednesday, where he was detained for nearly 10 hours and initially refused entry, he told BBC Chinese. He said he was later told he could stay for only one week, after which he would have to report to the airport to be deported.
But on Monday, the UK Border Force approved his entry and granted him a standard stay of six months, he said.
The 63-year-old was the leader of the now-defunct Democratic Party and one of the most recognisable faces of the city’s quashed pro-democracy movement….
Ahead of his departure, Wu said he had consulted staff at the British Consulate General in Hong Kong, asking if there would be any problems with his entry.
“The information I received was that there would be none,” he said, adding that consular staff said they would explain his criminal record and itinerary to the UK Border Force….
Wu was using his British National (Overseas) (BNO) passport—a special travel document issued to Hong Kong permanent residents before 1 July 1997, when Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule—to enter the UK.
In 1997, the UK government established a British National (Overseas) process, expanded after 2021, to help Hongkongers who have fled Hong Kong to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK and, eventually, gain UK citizenship. This process takes longer than a week. Wu had presented a BNO passport at Heathrow.
Megan Khoo of Hong Kong Watch: “This is the right outcome, and it should never have taken this long. He should never have faced the prospect of removal back to the city that jailed him.”
Everyone’s assistance
Wu: “Many Hong Kong people and friends everywhere have been working tirelessly during this period, speaking out for me and voicing opinions through various channels and methods. With everyone’s assistance, today—on the afternoon of July 27, 2026—I finally received a document issued by the UK Border Force officially approving my entry and granting me a standard stay of six months.”
What happened to Wu Chi-wai is another case of insufficiently conscientious bureaucrats making egregious decisions that must be reversed in light of relevant facts and law. These facts include the fact that Britain turned Hong Kong over to the People’s Republic of China in 1997 against the wishes of the people of Hong Kong. Can border officers at Heathrow and other points of entry be required to do better?
