Hong Kong’s class of lawmakers head to Beijing for study tour in historic first

Hong Kong’s Legislative Council (LegCo) has headed to Beijing for a week-long study tour to learn about China’s development, the president of the legislature has said.

Starry Lee, president of the Legislative Council, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that this is the first time an entire class of lawmakers has gone to Beijing together for a study tour.

“We are filled with anticipation. We will devote ourselves to our studies and make earnest observations,” Lee wrote in Chinese, adding that the trip was of “immense significance.”

All but one of the city’s 89 lawmakers are attending the trip. Legislator Ginny Wan did not join the Beijing tour, Sing Tao Daily reported.

The LegCo secretariat said in a reply to media outlets that Wan had notified president Lee of her absence in advance, and that Lee had accepted her explanation.

Wan, a lawyer and a Hong Kong deputy to the National People’s Congress of China, was selected a legislator in the Election Committee constituency in January.

A group photo taken of the lawmakers before they set off for the trip, posted by Starry Lee, showed six lawmakers missing. But local media reported that five of them traveled to Beijing themselves and later joined the rest of their colleagues.

There are currently 89 lawmakers in the legislature following William Wong’s resignation in early July. Wong, who was an Election Committee constituency lawmaker, stepped down from the post after his drink driving arrest.

‘A good time’ to learn about China

The LegCo president Lee said on Facebook that the legislature had done significant work over the past six months marking milestones of Hong Kong’s integration with China.

She said lawmakers produced a research report for the government on Hong Kong’s first five-year plan, and hosted an extra meeting before the Beijing trip break to review a bill for the new Huanggang Port. The LegCo is currently on its summer recess.

Therefore, it is now “a good time” for lawmakers to visit mainland China and understand the “latest national policies,” Lee said, adding that she believes “the first-hand information” learned through the study tour will help lawmakers in their work.

Lee said legislators will visit the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, as well as attend seminars on China’s ideologies, national security, five-year plans, foreign relations and China’s legal system.

They will also learn about the Chinese Communist Party’s history, as well as its grassroots governance and public service models, Lee added.