Hong Kong authorities have prevented three Chinese activists from entering the city to join a protest over a disputed island chain, a media report said Tuesday.
The three were hoping to join a voyage to the Japanese-controlled islands, known as Diaoyu by China and Shankaku by Japan, but were turned away at the border despite having visas, the South China Morning Post reported.
"They took away my visa and mobile phone and asked me to wait in a room," said Chen Fule, one of the three members of the Chinese Civilian Association for Safeguarding the Diaoyu Islands, according to the daily.
"Nearly 40 minutes later they returned and said I could go home but not enter Hong Kong," Chen added.
Ninety people were reportedly due to join this month's voyage, the latest in a succession of protests launched by Chinese nationalists in this former British colony.
Previous attempts by protesters to land on the barren islands have been repulsed by Japanese coast guards.
