Legco Holds First Ever Virtual Meeting

The Legislative Council has held an unprecedented virtual meeting amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The housing panel meeting on Thursday was considered an "informal" session because it didn't involve any voting.

Lawmakers logged onto the online session via Zoom, while the public could watch on Legco's YouTube channel.

Panel chair Tommy Cheung hosted the session from the council, while housing minister Frank Chan attended the cyber meeting from his own office.

Unlike regular sessions, the meeting didn't provide English or Mandarin simultaneous interpretations.

Eunice Yung from the New People’s Party, who took part, said she found the arrangement convenient.

"I think it's the trend for us to attend virtual meetings... it's actually better for us, to arrange our time," she said.

But Civic Passion lawmaker Cheng Chung-tai refused to join the session, saying he thinks virtual meetings give the public a bad impression about Legco's parliamentary standards.

"I think the public don't understand, or they can't distinguish what kind of so-called formal or informal meetings we're talking about. The concept is not clear," he said.

Cheng added that he's concerned about potential legal problems that could arise from these virtual sessions, if the arrangement is to be extended to other formal meetings.

Legco president Andrew Leung, for his part, said earlier that he has directed the secretariat to study legal and procedural issues if the council is to also hold formal sessions online.