HONG KONG, July 4, 2008 (AFP) - Hong Kong pro-democracy lawmaker 'Longhair' Leung Kwok-hung was Friday denied permission to enter China on a government-organised trip to quake-hit Sichuan province, a spokeswoman said.

'The China side refused to give him one-off permission to enter (the mainland),' a spokeswoman for Hong Kong's legislature told AFP.

Leung is well-known in the southern Chinese city for his frequent protests and campaign stunts on a range of issues.

However, four other democracy legislators have been granted permission to take part in the visit, only their second trip to mainland China since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.

The group of lawmakers, reduced to 19, was set to leave on the three-day visit from Friday to the area devastated by the 8.0-magnitude quake on May 12, which left 87,000 dead or missing.

The snub is a potential embarrassment for Hong Kong's government, which is debating whether it will match Chinese provinces' aid commitments to the quake recovery effort, a move that reports said could cost taxpayers 10 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.3 billion US).

Hong Kong's democrats have been banned from the mainland since the Tiananmen Square protests where hundreds, possibly thousands were massacred by Chinese troops following weeks of peaceful demonstrations in Beijing.

The only exception was a trip led by Hong Kong chief executive Donald Tsang with a group of 59 lawmakers, including Leung, who met with officials in southern Guangdong province in 2005.

Most Hong Kong residents have a travel document called a 'home-return permit' which allows them to enter the mainland freely, but the pro-democrats permission was withdrawn following the 1989 clampdown.

Hong Kong businesses, residents and the local government have made large donations to help the victims of the quake.

The latest trip coincides with the visit of Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping to Hong Kong on Sunday.