Tidal wave of advisers cuts off true opinion

BEIJING is obviously gaining the upper hand in the battle to win more local community leaders over to its side in the countdown to 1997. Last Friday, China announced that an Overseas Chinese Friendship Association would be established under the auspices of the United Front Work Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party later this year. According to Wang Zhaoguo, who heads the department, the new set-up is meant to, among other things, ensure a smooth transition for Hong Kong by gearing up contacts and exchanges with compatriots in the territory. Meanwhile, the Chinese officials claimed another victory early this week by conferring honorary titles on a bunch of 263 of the social elite. The local branch of the Xinhua News Agency named the second batch of its District Affairs Advisers, boosting the tally to 537. Following the latest appointments, China's pool of different classes of advisers in Hong Kong has now mushroomed to close to 800. On top of the District Affairs Advisers, there are also 28 members of the National People's Congress, 56 delegates to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, 38 Hong Kong members on the Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) for the Preparatory Committee of the future Special Administrative Region (SAR). Over the past three years, the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office has also closed ranks with the local Xinhua Branch in nominating a total of 143 Hong Kong Affairs Advisers. Among these dignitaries, a few of them are Chinese officials deployed in Hong Kong, such as the local director of Xinhua, Zhou Nan, and his assistant, Lee Wai-ting. There are also people like Henry Fok Ying-tung, who hold all or most of the above positions. There is also a host of local delegates to the various official assemblies at the provincial and county levels. If they are also taken on board, the total number of China's advisers in Hong Kong could easily exceed the 1,000 threshold. Those who have been left out can set their eyes on the Preparatory Committee for the SAR, the 400-member Selection Committee for the first Chief Executive, the Provisional Legislative Council, and the Basic Law Committee. They will be created between early next year and the changeover in 1997. In fact, Xinhua's large collection of District Affairs Advisers has been ridiculed as a convenient way to pacify some of those who felt snubbed. The value and esteem associated with the title has been so deflated that some critics may even consider it a political liability rather than an asset in an election campaign. Even the legality of the appointment of the District Affairs Advisers has been called into question. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration provides that the Hong Kong Government will continue to be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the territory. Only those major issues straddling the transition are supposed to be raised at the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group. Under the arrangement, one would not expect China's mission in Hong Kong to bother itself with minor issues at the neighbourhoods. Yet, Xinhua somehow found it imperative to enlist more than half a thousand advisers on district affairs. Its District Affairs Advisers have already outnumbered the District Boards members within the Hong Kong authorities' system of representative government. Following the reforms initiated by the Governor, Chris Patten, there are only 373 members serving the 18 District Boards in the territory. Many of the Xinhua recruits are, in fact, serving or former members. However, there does not seem to be a systematic attempt on the part of China to poach the key figures in the Hong Kong Government's elaborate network of advisory committees. The few exceptions include Kenneth Ting Woo-shou of the Curriculum Development Council; Man Mo-leung of the Consumer Council; and Chan Kwok-wai of the Advisory Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries. Many of the remaining District Affairs Advisers are either businessmen or professionals who have not been playing an active role in the Government's advisory mechanism. Those who are active are primarily so in their dual capacity as District Board members. Many of the best brains in public service have not been netted by the Chinese authorities, simply because of their liberal political outlook. When the latest list of advisers was released on Monday, even experienced journalists conceded that more than half the names were unfamiliar to them. None of those affiliated to the Democratic Party has been included, although it has been consistently ranked as the most popular party in town. Xinhua's second-in-command, Zhang Junsheng, was challenged by reporters on why they could not tolerate liberal activists as their advisers. He retorted that those on the list were the genuine democrats. His comment, however, is hardly convincing in the face of the latest poor ratings of PWC members. A survey released last week indicates that as many as 65 per cent of the residents are unhappy with the performance of the appointees. Given the fact that the District Board Advisers are even lesser known, it is reasonable to assume that their popularity ratings may even lag behind those of their PWC colleagues. Flanked by a growing contingent of friendly advisers, the Chinese officials may have found themselves in a more comfortable and secure environment. This, however, may also mean that they are now in greater danger of being even more insulated from real popular sentiment on the streets.