Hong Kong’s legislature has not sent any delegations to Europe or North America over its current four-year term, a first since the city’s handover to Chinese rule, the Post has found.
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Observers said such trips, which were routine in the past, are now seen as high risk and of little value amid geopolitical tensions with the West.
However, a lawmaker expressed hope that the next Legislative Council would resume such official visits, arguing that the city could learn from the West, which excels in areas such as education and environmental protection.
These visits would also help promote the city’s image internationally, he added.
A check by the Post found that the current Legco, which wraps up its four-year term on October 24, made a record 19 visits outside Hong Kong, despite the city’s Covid-19 lockdown spanning around a quarter of the term. This was more than triple the total from the previous term.
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Seventeen of these visits were to mainland China, also a record number. The other two were to Japan and Southeast Asia, covering Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, respectively, last year.