Pan-dems Shouldn't Politicise Mainland Trip: Nip

The Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Patrick Nip, and pro-establishment legislators on Sunday expressed disappointment that pan-democratic lawmakers had opted out of joining a trip to the Yangtze River Delta.

Twenty-two lawmaekrs and four ministers, including Nip, are visiting Shanghai and Hangzhou for four days, to find out the latest developments in the region.

But seven pro-democracy lawmakers who had originally signed up for the trip have decided against travelling, to protest the government’s proposed changes to extradition laws.

Speaking at the airport before he left, Nip said he believes mainland authorities will feel equally disappointed about the pro-democracy legislators' decision, because they made a lot of effort to make the trip happen.

He said mainland officials always welcome Hong Kong lawmakers to visit, and lawmakers should not politicise such visits.

The president of the Legislative Council, Andrew Leung, who is the leading the delegation, also questioned why lawmakers had to link the trip with politics.

He said he hopes lawmakers could use such exchanges to try to learn from other places, and focus on tackling livelihood issues.

The bills committee for the government’s planned changes to extradition laws failed to elect a chairperson in its first meeting on Wednesday, and Leung said the situation was unprecedented.

But he said it would be inappropriate to bypass the bills committee and bring the bill directly to the council's main session. He said the bill has to be handled according to usual procedures.