Hollow mouthpiece for Hong Kong opposition

When I read Lord Paddy Ashdown's report on Hong Kong,"Hong Kong 20 Years On: Freedom, Human Rights and Autonomy Under Fire", based on a visit in November last year, my first thought was"who paid for his trip and for the report"?

Ashdown said he visited Hong Kong for a week in November, "to gather information about human rights, the rule of law and democracy". A business class airfare from London to Hong Kong costs about 5,200 pounds ($7,165), while hotel accommodation and daily expenses for a week in the city could come to at least HK$100,000($15,577). Was he doing this freely or was he engaged as a consultant to produce the report? If it is the latter, the minimum daily rate of honorarium for an international consultant is 1,000 pounds. Therefore, Ashdown's mission could cost more than HK$240,000 - a very attractive sum compared with the daily allowance of 300 pounds he would receive for attending one House of Lords' meeting.

I believe he has an obligation to declare his sponsor or employer - to see whether or not there is any conflict of interest. If it is someone associated with the opposition camp in Hong Kong or a United States organization, people will then understand why the report is so biased. I would not even be surprised if it was drafted by a member of the opposition camp - as it merely repeats all the publicly known accusations leveled by opposition politicians and activists toward Beijing and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government in recent years.