LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Tuesday it had summoned the Chinese ambassador in recent days to express its concern that a British rights activist was denied entry to Hong Kong last week.

“We are very concerned that Ben Rogers, a UK national, was denied entry into Hong Kong on 11 October in absolute disregard of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle,” Foreign Office minister Mark Field said in parliament.

He added: “Foreign Office director-general for economic and global issues summoned the Chinese ambassador on this issue over the past few days.”

Rogers, a co-founder of the ruling Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission, has been a vocal critic of Chinese-ruled Hong Kong’s treatment of human rights activists, including that of jailed student protest leader Joshua Wong.

Hong Kong, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997, is governed under a “one country, two systems” principle that promises it a higher degree of autonomy and freedom than on the mainland.

Last week, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said London needed an explanation from Hong Kong and Beijing on the matter.