A Canadian beauty queen lashes out after she was barred from boarding a flight from Hong Kong to China for a pageant.

Beauty queen Anastasia Lin's been barred from a flight leaving Hong Kong for China to take part in a pageant there.

The 25-year-old, crowned Miss World Canada in May, isn't going anywhere quietly.

She's held a news conference at Hong Kong airport accusing the Chinese authorities of punishing her for speaking out against human rights abuses.

"As the Chinese government why is it afraid to let in a beauty queen. Ask them why, what kind of precedent this would set for future international events that it wants to host? Ask them whether they would also bar Olympic athletes from participating in the Winter Olympic Games just because they have different views that the Communist Party doesn't agree with? What if they are of Tibetan or Uighur origin? What if they practice Falun Gong? Or what if they support democracy in China?"

Lin says she wasn't able to get a visa in advance but travelled anyway because Canadians could get one on arrival to visit Sanya where she was planning to compete.

She says she was unaware Chinese authorities had blacklisted her until she landed in Hong Kong.

Miss World organisers said in an email they didn't know why she wasn't given a visa but that Lin may be offered a place in next year's contest.