Adviser criticises staging

ONE of Hong Kong's senior advisers to the Beijing Government has criticised China's handling of the conference.

Bank of East Asia chief executive David Li Kwok-po yesterday claimed the conference had been 'very good' for China because it showed Beijing was not yet ready to stage such large-scale international events.

'China has now learned a very good lesson - namely that it has not yet reached the stage of development when it can effectively organise such major conferences,' Mr Li told the South China Morning Post.

He criticised Beijing's heavy handed approach to security and its failure to cope with the delegates' requirements, and said China was overly concerned with what other countries thought, which was not a good basis for such a politically charged event.

Mr Li said the problems with the 'ladies conference' bore out his opposition to Beijing's bid for the 2000 Olympic Games.

'I personally was one of those who went to Beijing and said: 'We are not ready for this. Why should we spend so much money on this? Maybe we should spend the money on infrastructure and other things.' 'I sometimes think China is trying to run far too fast but you have to be able to walk before you can run.'