Canadian Lawmakers Are Expelled by Beijing

China expelled three Canadian members of Parliament on Tuesday in apparent retaliation for their activities highlighting human rights abuses here.

“I have never seen anyone . . . as unceremoniously and bodily manhandled and thrown around as I was--and my colleagues were--today,” Geoffrey Scott, 53, a Progressive Conservative Party representative from Ontario, told reporters after arrival in the British colony of Hong Kong. “If this is the kind of human rights that the Chinese can demonstrate to legislators . . . then God help the people of China who live under this regime.”

Scott and his colleagues--Svend Robinson, 39, a New Democratic Party legislator from British Columbia, and Beryl Gaffney, 61, a Liberal Party legislator from Ontario--arrived in Beijing on Saturday as a self-described human rights delegation. They then proceeded to openly engage in activities certain to enrage authorities in this severely repressed nation.

First, they met with relatives of China’s two most prominent political prisoners, social scientist Chen Ziming and journalist Wang Juntao, both serving 13-year sentences for their roles in organizing the 1989 Tian An Men Square pro-democracy protests.

Hosted by a quasi-official Chinese group, the lawmakers refused a visit to Beijing’s model Prison No. 1, where foreign visitors are often taken. Instead, they insisted on going to Prison No. 2, where several prominent political prisoners are held. They were unable to get permission for such a visit.

Tuesday morning, the delegation members met with Rong Yiren, the reformist head of the China International Trust and Investment Corp., and were told their bus would take them back to their hotel.

“Instead of the bus going toward our hotel, the bus turned down a side street,” Robinson said in Hong Kong. “We were then driven into a courtyard (of a police station) . . . and told this was the visa office. . . . There were over 100 army officers and police officers present in this courtyard with us. We refused to go into the inner office. We demanded to be released from this imprisonment. We accused them of kidnaping us.”

The three Parliament members, plus an accompanying Canadian diplomat, Andrew Halper, were held incommunicado for a few hours. The legislators were then driven to the airport in the middle of a 14-vehicle convoy for the first flight to Hong Kong, they said. Police picked up Richard Lee, a Chinese-Canadian acting as the group’s interpreter, and their luggage at their hotel. Lee was also expelled with the delegation.

The official New China News Agency reported that Beijing Public Security had expelled the Canadians “because they have conducted activities incompatible with their status.” It provided no details.

“We will be protesting this at the highest levels,” a Canadian Embassy spokesman said. “As far as we know, they have not done anything illegal and (were) not contemplating doing anything illegal.”

Times staff writer Holley reported from Beijing and Times special correspondent Courtney reported from Hong Kong.