China has rebuffed criticism of its decision to bar a prominent British activist from Hong Kong, declaring itself unshakably opposed to foreign interference in the former colony’s affairs. Speaking a day after the Conservative human rights campaigner Benedict Rogers was refused entry to the financial hub, Hua Chunying, a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, said decisions about who was allowed to enter were a matter of Chinese sovereignty. Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Hong Kong in Auguest to demand the release of three of the former British colony’s best-known pro-democracy leaders: Alex Chow, Nathan Law and Joshua Wong.