Hong Kong’s legislature has not sent any delegations to Europe or North America over its current four-year term, a first since the city’s return to Chinese sovereignty, the Post has found.

Observers said such trips, which were routine in the past, were now seen as high risk and of little value amid geopolitical tensions with the West.

These visits would also help promote the city’s image internationally, he added.

A check by the Post found that the current Legco, which wraps up its four-year term on October 24, made a record 19 visits outside Hong Kong, despite the city’s Covid-19 lockdown spanning around a quarter of the term. This was more than triple the total from the previous term.

Seventeen of these visits were to mainland China, also a record number. The other two were to Japan and Southeast Asia, covering Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, respectively, last year.