Duty visits of ex-ICAC chief put under spotlight
Timothy Tong spent three times the amount that his predecessors did on official trips
Lawmakers yesterday examined the expenses of the former head of the graft-busting agency, Timothy Tong Hin-ming, whose duty visits amounted to triple of what his predecessors spent.
Tong, who made frequent visits to the mainland while serving as commissioner of the Independent Commission Against Corruption from 2007 to 2012, was this year appointed a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
At a special meeting of the Finance Committee yesterday, legal-sector lawmaker Dennis Kwok Wing-hang, of the Civic Party, raised doubts over the necessity of Tong's trips.
Compared to Tong's predecessors, "his average expenditure [on duty visits] was triple … More than 10 of the courtesy calls were Beijing and Shanghai-bound. They were not for attending anti-corruption meetings.
"Some agencies were paid visits several times, like the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and the Supreme People's Procuratorate. Why was it necessary to call on those units so many times?"
Kwok said the frequency was "barely understandable".
Nineteen of Tong's 34 visits were to the mainland, ICAC data presented to the committee showed.
