IF YOU have wondered who is filling all those Hong Kong hotel rooms, look no further than the elected representatives of Western democracies.
The Sunday Morning Post has already documented the activities of British members of parliament enjoying the territory's hosptality.
Now it seems American legislators find our customs and cuisine to their liking, too.
Asian destinations figure heavily on a list of 680 private trips by congressmen in 1991-92, according to a Washington DC watchdog group.
Congressional rules forbid foreign travel paid for by overseas governments, but there is no restriction on trips paid for by corporations or organisations.
The group, Public Citizen, documented trips taken by congressmen and financed by organisations as diverse as China's People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, Occidental Petroleum, Northwest Airlines and a Taiwanese newspaper. Public Citizen's report warns that voters may think wealthy interests could be using the junkets to buy influence in Congress and it wants politicians to file detailed reports to justify their trips.