A Taiwanese band had planned to perform in a live concert in Hong Kong, but immigration officials rejected one member's work visa application. The singer's support for an independent Taiwan is likely the reason for denying his entry. (A journalist was barred from entering Hong Kong as a tourist/visitor after hosting an advocate of Hong Kong independence). In similar cases in the past, officials would not elaborate on the reason for denying people of certain political leanings from entering the city. In this case, officials claimed in writing that his work visa application was rejected because he did not "possess a special skill, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in the HKSAR". He (and the band) appeared in the concert through live video, explaining his absence by stating a quote from a Stephen Chow movie — "I have lost all my special skills, why should I keep embarrassing myself by staying (in Hong Kong)".
Would immigration officials start using the same reason to deny foreign public figures whom support causes which displease local and Chinese government from entering Hong Kong? By this logic, the city should stop hosting international sporting competitions or inviting foreign teams to play exhibition matches since the events would certainly feature local athletes, meaning athletes playing the sport are readily available. Sporting clubs with tradition of advocating higher degree of autonomy or outright independence from their current country (FC Barcelona being one example) would be denied entry — do fans of Lionel Messi need to plead for their favourite player to make a transfer request so that he is not banned from visiting Hong Kong.
Since Hong Kong already has its own symphony orchestra, Chinese symphony, dance and theatre company, there is no need to invite foreign (or mainland Chinese) counterparts to perform, especially when local performers already have performed most of the works performed by the visiting performers. The same can be said of pop singers, as demonstrated by immigration officials. The city should stop hosting opening night of foreign films or inviting lead actors/actresses of such films, since many of them are friends or supporters of the Dalai Lama and thus, according to the officials, the separatist movement. Unfortunately, officials would keep allowing Chinese performers to visit, so the dama (middle-aged Chinese women) dancers and singers would still be allowed to "perform" in public.
The Hong Kong government is allowed to appoint foreign judges to sit on the Court of Final Appeal and seek foreign legal experts' advice on controversial decisions such as whether to prosecute former Chief Executives for corruption. This is often criticized by the pro-Beijing people and politicians. Now they can use the immigration officials' reasoning to ask the government to keep foreigners out of the city's highest court and stop seeking advice from foreigners.
Even though Hong Kong's most popular stand-up comedian claimed that his recently-concluded performance would be the last one performed in front of a live audience, that there is no shortage of stand-up comedians in the city, some even have day jobs as high-level government officials. As such the immigration officials' decision mean foreign stand-up artists may find in difficult to perform in Hong Kong in the future.
While shoe shining is generally a dying profession in most of the developed world, it is thriving in Hong Kong, with many people working hard to shine (or even lick) the boots of their seniors. Even the city's Chief Executive has taken an interest in shoe shining. (One may wonder if shoe shining/bootlicking latter is in fact her day job.) So immigration officials can use the clause to stop (paid) visitors from taking part in pro-government demonstrations. (The problem is that, since most of them are from the mainland, officials are unlikely to act.)
While the immigration officials' reasoning may hurt Hong Kong's image as an international city and deny Hong Kongers' an opportunity to witness foreign talent perform in person, they probably consider this a small price to pay for closer integration to the Great Motherland. But is it truly a good development?