New snub for Patten in 'war' with China

New snub for Patten in 'war' with China

By Peter Lim

HONG KONG (AFP): Hong Kong governor Chris Patten put on a
brave face yesterday over the latest Chinese snub in a campaign
to freeze him out of deciding the territory's future.

A decision on Thursday not to invite him to the launch of the
Bank of China's first bank notes for Hong Kong next week, was the
latest rebuke for Patten.

That came barely a day after Lu Ping, China's main official
for Hong Kong affairs, rejected a request for a meeting with the
governor during a one week visit due to start Sunday. Lu's visit
is his first to the territory since Patten became governor.

Patten will not even attend a luncheon for Lu hosted by five
leading business groups -- including the Hong Kong and American
chambers of commerce -- at which the Chinese official is expected
to make a major speech.

The governor said he did not feel "neglected" at not getting a
Bank of China invitation.

But he told reporters, after attending a pilots' conference,
that he was "sorry" Lu would not see him. He added that he was
prepared to change his schedule "at any time if that is
convenient to Lu."

As relations between the governor and Beijing reach an all-
time low, many local observers feel China is getting the upper
hand in the war of nerves over Hong Kong's future.

One Chinese official, who requested anonymity, commented that
because Patten is insisting on going his own way over Hong Kong,
"China is simply doing what it considers necessary steps" before
the 1997 handover.

"Patten does not really care about Hong Kong," he said, citing
comments in Hong Kong's independent Ming Pao newspaper that
Patten looked unhappy in his job. The paper said the governor
used every opportunity to go to London.

Patten will probably go London to visit an opera house next
month -- his ninth trip home since he became governor in June
1992, a government spokesman confirmed.

But analysts also say China is stepping up pressure on Patten
in order to show the people of Hong Kong that there is no future
in towing the British line up to 1997.

During his visit, Lu is to meet two sub-groups of the
Preliminary Working Committee, a Beijing-appointed body paving
the way for the colony's transfer to Chinese rule.

China has been enraged by Patten's ban on civil servants
meeting the committee.

"It is quite obvious that Chinese authorities are showing they
are not happy with the state of affairs," said Joseph Cheng,
political commentator at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong.

"It is part of the strategy to make sure the people of Hong
Kong know that the territory will definitely be under Chinese
sovereignty after 1997," Cheng said.

Before visiting the British colony for the first time in two
years, Lu will accompany Beijing advisers from the territory to a
military camp in Guangzhou, southern China, where armed forces to
be deployed in Hong Kong after 1997 are undergoing training.

David McMillen, director of independently run Hong Kong
Transition Project, said "it is more psychological warfare to
show the people of Hong Kong that the other Hong Kong has begun
to emerge."

He said it was alright for China not to have anything to do
with Patten, but added that "the problem of transition should not
be isolated."

At least China has shown good "technical and practical
cooperation" in recent months, he said. McMillen emphasized
China's agreement on the need to tackle the property crisis, and
reported agreement on the future use of British military sites.

Hong Kong's chief secretary Anson Chan, who is currently in
Washington lobbying for US renewal of China's most-favored-nation
status, expressed disappointment that Lu would not meet Patten.

"We have a whole range of transitional matters to discuss,"
said Chan who added: "We would be happy at anytime to meet with
him to discuss these issues."

The isolation China is imposing on Patten has prompted a
Beijing-funded newspaper, Hong Kong Commercial Daily, to comment:
"Of all the governors of Hong Kong, Chris Patten is the most
lonely of them."

The commentary added that the governor was being snubbed
socially and was reduced to attending opening ceremonies normally
handled by less senior officials.