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ANASTASIA LIN IS an actress who believes her outspoken advocacy of human rights in her native China played a big role in her winning bid in May to become Canada’s contestant in the Miss World pageant.
But then the host country for the global beauty pageant was changed from Australia to China, and now the Communist country appears to have singled Lin out among the contestants and is stalling over her visa application. As a result, Canada may not be represented at all in the pageant on 19 December in Sanya, China.
Ike Lalji, the chief executive of Miss World Canada, said he assured officials at the pageant’s London headquarters that Lin would focus on the competition and not go out of her way to draw attention to her involvement in Falun Gong, a spiritual group outlawed in China.
“She’s not going to do anything crazy over there that’s going to upset the government of China,” he said. “Our whole approach is to do it peacefully. If anything is going to happen, it’s going to happen in a very civilised way.”
However, as a vocal supporter of Falun Gong, Lin is almost certain to be denied entry into China, with no formal reason provided.
China outlawed Falun Gong as an “evil cult” in 1999 and allows no public discussion of the movement or alleged human rights abuses connected with its suppression. Chinese law allows for the arrest and imprisonment of anyone suspected of supporting or propagating religious movements not officially approved by the state.
The spiritual and mediation group attracted millions of adherents before being outlawed as a threat to social stability. Followers say China’s crackdown has cost the lives of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners. Beijing denies that.
Lin, 25, said that if she’s allowed to go she’ll continue to speak out for Falun Gong.
“I’m in the Miss World contest. I’m not going to do anything irrational, that’s non-peaceful,” she said. But she pointedly added, “I am going to speak my mind, that’s for sure.”
“I’m going back to China for the Chinese people,” Lin said. “I want them to have hope and see that someone else outside is fighting for their freedom. I guess that’s what they are most afraid of.”
Lin, who moved to Canada when she was 13, has been anything but shy about her beliefs. Two months after winning the Canadian pageant, she testified at a US congressional hearing about religious persecution in China. She also plays an imprisoned Falun Gong practitioner in an upcoming Canadian movie, The Bleeding Edge.
Messages left at the Chinese Embassy in Canada were not returned. A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing was asked Tuesday whether he had any updates on allegations that China was denying Miss Canada access to the event, and declined to comment.
“Currently, I have no information to give you,” spokesman Hong Lei said.
Lin said her father in China has already come under pressure from authorities there. She said he was proud of her becoming Miss World Canada but soon urged her to stop her human rights advocacy or he would have to sever contact with her. Canada’s government has voiced concern about alleged harassment of her family in China.
Lin said she hasn’t received a letter she needs for the visa from the host city’s government, and that all the other contestants received them on 30 October.
“I’m the only person that I know of who hasn’t received it.”
Lalji, the Canadian pageant chief, said Canada won’t send the first runner-up to China if Lin doesn’t get a visa because it would be too late, noting training is scheduled to start today. He said Lin could be a few days late, however.
Miss World confirmed the pageant has also not received a letter from the Chinese government for Lin. Its legal department said in a statement the pageant will go on if Lin is not granted a visa.
“We do not have any control over who is issued a visa,” the statement said. “If we cancel or move the show each time a visa was not granted for a contestant then it would be impossible to plan the event.”
Francois Lasalle, a spokeswoman for Canada’s Foreign Affairs department, said the ministry cannot comment on China’s visa decisions, adding that the promotion of human rights remains a priority in its relationship with China.
Lin believes she won the Canadian pageant in large part because of her activism.
“The judges were resonating with my message that I tried to do this for the people who can’t speak up for themselves,” she said.
Lalji granted that “maybe a small part” of why she won was her stance on human rights but noted there are 12 competitions and different judges for each competition.
“The judges didn’t just choose her just because of her cause,” he said. “She basically did well on everything.”
Sure it’s only tax payers money….
@Martin Smith: I wonder how many wasters were fired over that loss?
@Martin Smith: exactly, that’s the thinking throughout the public sector
@Jonathan: thats 315 houses LPT tax at average house price, or 10 days needlessly renting the convention center for the dail…… How this DERELICT property wasnt fully assessed before purchasing is bad enough, how it wasnt maintained after purchase is even worse…… Poor management again and probably more unaccountably…… We’re hemmorhaging money everywhere and the net result of government inefficiency and unaccountably is to raise taxes….. God help everyone in this mismanaged country. Imagine how better off we would be as a society if the country was run with some sort of competence and efficiency.
DCC must be the only property dealer to loose money when selling a property while property prices have been rising more than inflation in the last 5 years, regardless of the bad condition of the building.
@Goran Josifov: Anyone know why they bought this property in the first place.
@Michael Reilly: The pub, had been a popular meeting spot for theatre goers, but closed more than a decade ago. The four-storey Victorian building, which is on the record of protected structures, became increasingly dilapidated and by 2014 had been boarded up.
In 2017 the council bought the pub to stop it from falling into further decay. An inspection noted parts of the roof were missing with a “large number of plastic bags containing bird droppings stored throughout the building”.
The council had initially hoped to reach a deal with the Abbey Theatre, which had “expressed an interest in utilising the buildings when refurbished”. However no agreement was reached.
@Daniel O’Connor: Lovely, so now they’re going to sell it off to some crony at a bargain price, no doubt.
City Council spending tax payer’s money with no consequences for loss, unelected bureaucrats leaving people sleeping on the street’s to die & yet another building empty & derelict due to their collective negligence. Time they were told to sling their hook.
I know there is a loss here to the council (which is bad enough) but the more important questions are:
What was the intended use for this building when they bought it and what has changed since?
Why are DCC using taxpayers money to buy commercial buildings that they have no intention of using?
Who was the previous owner of the building before DCC bought it?
@The next small thing: This explains it all a bit more… https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/city-councillors-block-sale-of-dublin-s-plough-pub-1.4536468?mode=amp
@William Tallon: Cheers for that, bit more detail there alright. So basically they bought the property for speculation, in that they hoped the Abbey would want it, they didn’t so now want to flog it to a developer and then rent 6 apartments back for circa 150,000 p.a. They will then rent these for social housing where they will probably get about 15,000 rent for the 6 apartments and never actually own them. They should have just impossed levies on the original owner under the Derelict Sites Act and could have netted about 24,000 until the original owner refurbished the property or sold it onto someone who would.
@The next small thing: That would make sense, but someone will obviously benefit from having left it to crumble into the street instead. It shows how the rest of the city can be left with derelict buildings standing empty as well. Great management.
Only in Ireland, can the council buy property and loose money in the middle of a property boom. Incompetence doesn’t come close to describing these people. I wonder is there a friend looking to buy this property on the cheap?
ah the plough, over fourteens only
@Dave: happy memories. I waited until I was 15 though
That’s on just one building wait until they start building housing estate with there very own workers
Don’t worry. Our increase in property tax will cover such things…
They will sell it to one of their mates who will sell it for millions in profit
Not fit for purpose Thats the Council not the Building..
How did they manage to lose money on Dublin property?
Its easy to be incompetent when you get paid every week regardless.
Only taxes nothing to see here.
What the hell is going on here?, they paid 800k (and the rest) and they didn’t bother to fix the effing roof or deal with the vermin problem. That’s a bread and butter job for the council surely or with help from OPW?
Sorry, but there should be a sacking for the persons who stood over this.
Why is the council speculating on property deals instead of busying themselves with actual council business because last time I looked organizing some bins and port-a-pottys was a herculean task for them.
Did someone in the Abbey ask the council to buy it so that the pub could be saved?
Some ex-NAMA greaseball developer will now buy this for 500k and sell it in a few years for 4 times that.
How many other properties like this have Dublin City Council bought, how many have they also ignored and allowed to rot, and how much is the taxpayer on the hook for?
No.1 Rule, do not pish away taxpayers money.
@Eddie O’Neill: Plenty of abandoned buildings all over the place, and not a bother on them. I’m beginning to think that every single Councillor and TD should be required to walk through our capital city once a month to see all the empty buildings growing weeds.
Typical of the council. They must be getting their advice from the OPW
Another shower of wasters
@Mike Heelan: after dealing with some departments within the OPE I strongly oppose your generic view.
They’re actually pretty good.
But sure, keep bashing but don’t step up.
Some businessmen
Bought a naggin there when I was 16
@Maalouf: Back then you would have got money back on the bottle!
All councils should be disbanded and replaced with a new body. They are totally useless
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