China-born actress Anastasia Lin, who was crowned Miss World Canada 2015, has allegedly been denied entry to Beijing for the upcoming Miss World beauty pageant on Dec. 19 because of her human rights advocacy against the country.

The host country for the competition this year was supposed to be Australia, but it was later changed to China. Lin claims that the Chinese government is concerned that she will use the pageant as an avenue to speak out against the country. As a result, she has allegedly been singled out and her visa application has been hindered.

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"They haven't sent me an invitation letter that I require to apply for a visa," Lin told AFP in an interview. Other contestants have reportedly already received their letters since October and it seems Canada will have no representative in Sanya, China, at all.

The reigning beauty queen is a vocal advocacate of Falun Gong, a spiritual group described by the Chinese government as an evil cult and banned from the country in 1999. As a member of the group, Lin testified against religious persecutions in China during a US congressional hearing in July, two months after winning the Canadian pageant.

"I'm in the Miss World contest. I'm not going to do anything irrational, that's non-peaceful," she said. Lin noted that "I am going to speak my mind, that's for sure."

Media outlets reportedly sent messages to the Chinese embassy about Lin's accusations, but there have been no replies yet. When spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry Hong Lei was asked for updates, he said, "Currently, I have no information to give you."

The reigning Miss World Canada queen claims that Chinese authorities are putting pressure on her father who currently resides in China. "When I was crowned Miss World Canada, my father was so proud of me," she recalled. "But within a couple days, my father's tone changed. He told me nervously that I must stop my advocacy for human rights in China, or else he would have no choice but to sever contact with me."

Meanwhile, organizers of the pageant confirmed that the show will continue despite Lin's absence. "We do not have any control over who is issued a visa," a statement from the pageant organizers 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."

Tagshuman rights advocacy, miss world canada, miss world 2015, denied visa in china, beauty pageant, Falun Gong, falun gong beauty queen, anastasia lin, China human rights