Sir Percy's one-man mission to keep his place in history

HONGKONG is used to the spectacle of retired civil servants trying to hang on to fame or fortune, or both, by trading on their past or assumed connections.

But the case of Sir Percy Cradock suggests that the erosion of standards of civil service conduct has reached the highest levels in Britain itself.

There can be no doubt that Sir Percy, an unelected ex-official responsible to no one but the civil service rules, has set out, with the apparent connivance of some of his former colleagues, to undermine the policy of the British and Hongkong governmentson constitutional development.

He has chosen to visit Beijing for high level meetings with senior Chinese officials so, as he himself must know, weakening the British stance by reminding anyone who will listen that there is opposition in London to Chris Patten.

Sir Percy now claims that his visit to Hongkong and China is purely private. This is plainly untrue as the numerous interviews which he has given here - some initiated by him - have attested.

The question is: Why is a recently retired civil servant meddling in matters in which he was involved so deeply in the past? One may quickly dispose of any thought of pecuniary motives - though no doubt it will do no harm to Kleinwort Benson's China Investment and Development Fund, which invests in as yet unlisted mainland companies, to be associated with a Briton so keen to espouse China's point of view on Hongkong.