French controversial comedian Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, who has been several times convicted for racist and anti-Semitic remarks, was barred from entering in Hong Kong where his two scheduled shows were cancelled.

Dieudonne was detained by immigration officials at Hong Kong International Airport shortly after arriving on a flight from Bangkok.

The block on Dieudonne’s entry came reportedly after high-level diplomatic interventions by Israel and France, who warned that his planned appearances could have led to disorder and even violence if they went ahead.

While declining to comment on an individual case, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Immigration Department said: “We are committed to upholding effective immigration control by denying the entry of undesireables.’’

After seven hours of questioning Dieudonne was released and forced to take a flight back to France.

Israeli consul general in Hong Kong Sagi Karni praised the government for “taking the right measures.”

“Who wants to import anti-Semitism, racism, Holocaust denial and sympathy to Jihadist terrorists into this beautiful society?” he said.