WITH 680 days to go before the formal Chinese Government take-over, Hong Kong people should be bracing themselves for a bout of uncertainty and instability, much of which will be due to Beijing's misguided decisions.
I am referring to the possible emergence of several centres of power to rival and destabilise the Hong Kong Government and the Legislative Council. These include the team-designate, which is the government-in-waiting, the provisional legislature and the Preparatory Committee to set up the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
These proposals have been instigated by the Chinese Government on the advice of a small group of handpicked Hong Kong business and professional people. It does not take too much common sense to conclude that setting up these alternative centres of power could easily result in chaos and instability.
It is hard to understand why this small bunch of Hong Kong people should offer such misguided and damaging advice. However, the motives of many, if not all, of these advisers should not be too difficult to identify - they want to carve out roles for themselves.
Many of these power-hungry people are has-beens or never-weres in the current Hong Kong establishment. The transition to Chinese Communist rule in 1997 provides them with a golden opportunity to gain political and commercial influence by ingratiating themselves with Beijing.
What's more, this can be achieved by cutting their own deals with the powers that be in China, and not by gaining office via the ballot box.