Miss World Canada contestant Anastasia Lin was not allowed to board a flight to the Chinese city where the finals of the competition were being held, which she believes was in retaliation to her public criticism of human rights in the country, according to Reuters.

Lin, a 25-year-old Canadian actress of Chinese origin who won the Miss World Canada beauty pageant in May, was unable to obtain a visa before travelling for the final stage of the competition to Sanya, a city on the southern end of China's Hainan Island.

Since visitors holding a Canadian passport are eligible for visas on arrival if their port of entry is via Hong Kong, Lin tried to enter the country via that channel, but she was barred from boarding her flight to Sanya.

Lin has publicly opposed China's human rights abuses and the "repressions and censorship" in the country. She is also a believer in Falun Gong, a spiritual group that has been branded as a cult and banned in China, BBC News reported.

"China does not allow any persona non grata to come to China," said a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, according to The Globe and Mail.

"My denial was unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected. The Chinese government has barred me from the competition for political reasons," Lin said in a Facebook post.

"They are trying to punish me for my beliefs and prevent me from speaking out about human rights issues."

I'm in Hong Kong, but the Chinese government has barred me from getting the next flight to Sanya for Miss World. #AfraidOfABeautyQueen

— Anastasia Lin (@AnastasiaLinTO) November 26, 2015