BEIJING may block land grants in the Sino-British Land Commission if the Government refuses to review its reclamation programme, the Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) warned yesterday.
Nellie Fong Wong Kut-man, co-convenor of its economic sub-group, said it was unreasonable for the Government to ignore the PWC's call to halt new reclamation projects for fear that further narrowing of Victoria Harbour would cause environmental and safety problems.
'Although the Government has increased the amount of land, it will need the approval of the Sino-British Land Commission in the granting of new land,' she said.
'If you reclaim the land without China's consent and destroy the environment of Hong Kong, the land might not be granted.' Mrs Fong's comments came as China's leading spokesman on Hong Kong affairs, Lu Ping, rushed to the defence of Xinhua (the New China News Agency), urging the Government to communicate more with Beijing's de facto embassy.
The director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office (HKMAO) hit out at Governor Chris Patten, who said in Singapore the Government did not need to talk to Xinhua because it was not in the Joint Liaison Group (JLG).
'Talking this way is totally wrong,' said Mr Lu, noting that a Xinhua representative did sit on the Chinese JLG team.
