State Councillor Liu Yandong was in town this week for a whirlwind 24-hour visit which meant, as visits of this kind invariably mean, that she saw all the usual suspects, was shielded from anyone likely to voice a critical opinion and, of course, had no opportunity to speak to a single 'ordinary' person who had not been carefully vetted beforehand.
Yet visits of this kind are often billed as information-gathering exercises and presented as a chance for the Chinese leadership to communicate with the people of Hong Kong.
The reality, however, is that visiting dignitaries spend the bulk of their time closeted with government officials. And then, inevitably, there is a session where local tycoons are given face by being invited to a meeting. This is followed by a gathering or two with the Beijing faithful, sometimes in the form of trade union groups, youth organisations - or any officially recognised 'patriots'.
At some point, the visiting dignitary delivers a homily to the assembled sycophants who are told to do better and love the country more, or something along those lines. On this occasion, Liu stressed the importance of the 12th five-year plan and, sparing no clich? in the interests of conformity, expressed the hope that Hong Kong and Macau would 'seize the opportunity and ride the express train of development'.
So far, so predictable. But, astonishingly, since China's resumption of sovereignty, the entire Legislative Council has never had an opportunity to meet state leaders. Many Legco members remain barred from visiting the nation's capital or, indeed, any other part of the mainland without obtaining a special exemption.
This has been going on for so long that many people in Hong Kong think it is a 'normal' state of affairs. But this is far from the case, indeed it is hard to think of a single other country where elected representatives are prevented from travelling around their own nation.
Given this lack of communication with people who have opinions other than those likely to be welcomed in Beijing, what is the quality of information about Hong Kong being received in the nation's capital?