Anastasia Lin, an actress who was crowned Miss World Canada on May, said on Tuesday that her visa to travel to compete at the Miss World pageant has been delayed. She also added that her father has been harassed by Chinese officials because she has spoken out about human rights abuses in the communist country. Anastasia claimed that it is because she spoke out loud about the Chinese abuse of human rights that now she has lost a chance to attend the Miss World contest final to be held in Sanya, China.

Anastasia during a U.S. Congressional hearing on religious persecution held in China in July said she wanted to "speak for those in China that are beaten, burned and electrocuted for holding to their beliefs," as per the full text of her statement on the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's website.

Lin said that the delegates from other countries have received their invitation from the Chinese host venue, but she has received no letter and believes China is trying to block her from the event. Defending her project, she added, “I was interested in human rights way before I even thought of beauty pageants." She further added, "I don't think this is an administrative issue. It is not. I think this is a matter of principle." A spokesman at Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs said that Ottawa is aware of Lin's case but cannot comment on Chinese visa decisions.

Lin moved to Canada with her mother a decade ago while her father lives in China. After few days of winning the crown, Lin said she received a text message from her father four days later, urging her to stop talking about human rights abuses in China. “You must stop all the political and human rights work you are doing, otherwise I will stop all support to you," he told her. Lin also shared that she tried to call her father back after receiving the text, but he refused to speak to her out of fear his phone might be tapped. "Whatever you have sent to me, anything political, has been censored," he told her via text. "Do you know the secret security force has come to me?”

Lin said the Canadian chapter of the Miss World organization has been fully supportive of her human rights message, but officials at the London headquarters have offered no solutions to the problem with the host country.