Legislators want to set up regular communication channel

Lawmakers said they wanted to create a regular communication channel with mainland officials, as they completed a four-day visit to examine environmental protection and economic developments in Guangdong.

While Legislative Council president Tsang Yok-sing, who led the 25-member delegation, said overall arrangements for the trip were satisfactory, pan-democrats criticised the provincial government for not listening to their political views.

Speaking before returning to Hong Kong from Zhuhai, Democratic Party chairman Albert Ho Chun-yan compared the tour with a previous Legco visit to the province, in 2005, during which 59 legislators met Guangdong's then party secretary Zhang Dejian .

'The way the Guangdong government received us this time was obviously a retreat from 2005.'

He said he was disappointed that lawmakers' requests to meet Guangdong party secretary Wang Yang or governor Huang Huahua were declined, and that vice-governor Wan Qingliang refused to respond to political questions.

During a Sunday meeting Albert Chan Wai-yip, of the League of Social Democrats, asked Mr Wan to channel Hongkongers' demands that June 4 democracy protesters be vindicated to Beijing. Mr Wan declined to comment. Later, during a lunch gathering, Mr Ho also failed to get an answer when he asked the vice-governor to help pan-democrats obtain home return permits.

'We pledged not to display any banner or chant any slogan ... but still the vice-governor talked for a long time and did not allow sufficient time for us to speak,' Mr Ho said.