Beijing loyalists refuse to donate junket costs

Executive councillor Cheng Yiu-tong and lawmaker Ip Kwok-him, both Beijing loyalists, say they won't donate the costs of a six-day trip to France sponsored by Cathay Pacific, insisting it was all above board.

"I have already declared [the trip]," Cheng said. "I feel I've done all that I needed to do. I didn't breach any regulation, I won't give [the costs] back, and I have no budget to give it back."

Cheng, Ip and seven lawmakers each travelled with a relative - either a spouse or a child - from Hong Kong to Toulouse via Paris, and returned on a new Cathay aircraft last Wednesday.

A one-way business-class flight from Hong Kong to Paris costs at least HK$58,300, according to the airline's website.

The junket has prompted criticism about a potential conflict of interest after some lawmakers confirmed that during the trip, Cathay management reiterated the "importance" of an extra runway being built at the airport, and Cathay's opposition to potential rival Jetstar Hong Kong's bid for an air operator's licence.

Cheng said his discussions with Cathay managers during the trip mainly involved workplace relations, and that politicians and the media had for many years accepted sponsored trips. "I don't think it's a problem," he said, although he agreed that the declaration system should be reviewed and made stricter.

Ip, a member of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), also believed he had done nothing wrong.