Deported scholar poses Hong Kong dilemma

Li's wife and daughter are now in the U.S.

By CNN's Patricia Lai

HONG KONG, China -- Hong Kong authorities may face a dilemma over whether to allow U.S. scholar Li Shaomin to return to his Hong Kong base.

The associate professor, detained in China for almost five months, was convicted of espionage in Beijing on Saturday and ordered to be deported from China.

Hong Kong, once a British colony, was returned to China in 1997 but with a large degree of autonomy.

The Hong Kong Immigration Department issued a statement saying they will not comment on individual cases and would act according to Hong Kong immigration law and procedures.

Li's wife Liu Xingli, also a Hong Kong City University academic, is in the U.S. with her daughter.

Local politicians have shown concerns on how the Hong Kong government would handle the thorny issue.

Many believe it would test Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's political wisdom if Li decided to return to Hong Kong.

Tung has been criticized for bowing to the Chinese authority and not upholding Hong Kong's sovereignty.

Ma Lik, a Hong Kong deputy to China's National People's Congress, said the controversy revolves around the interpretation of "outside the country", which can be geographical or according to the judicial administration.

"But I believe it should be geographical that he should be restricted from the whole China where Hong Kong is a part," he told CNN.

Ma said according to the rule, Li Shaomin has damaged China's national security and could have been jailed.

He is blacklisted and cannot enter China but Ma said it is up to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government to try to make its own decision concerning his entry.

Li, 45, is a Chinese-born US academic. He has a doctorate from Princeton University. He was teaching business at the City University of Hong Kong.

He was arrested in his trip to China on February 25. Since then, he was detained in Shenzhen, just across Hong Kong's border.

On Saturday, the day after Beijing was named host of 2008 Olympic games, Li was reported to have been convicted for spying for Taiwan and ordered to be expelled.