SO MUCH for the Governor's undertaking there would be no secret diplomacy between Hongkong and Beijing. Splashed all over local newspapers last week was what was purported to be a covert letter from ''Young Master Pang'' [Chris Patten] to Lu Ping, head of the Hongkong and Macau Affairs Department. Given the icy state of relations between the pair, the missive is uncommonly friendly. ''Dear Lu Ping, remember our promise? I swore to buy you a Rose Garden, but then circumstances got a little sticky down here and I decided to move the project to Beijing. Actually, moving to Beijing has been my dream for many years; but my job means thatI have to stay in Hongkong.'' Startling stuff indeed - and it gets stranger. ''How I wish you will forget all our previous grudges and our happy affair will be restored. ''Our love will last, whatever the heaven and earth change. I will surely keep my promise to you because you are my first love that I can never forget.'' Before the Hang Seng starts to skyrocket and Lavender Patten starts to ask awkward questions we have to tell you that the ''letter'' is the centrepiece of an advertisement for the Rose Garden luxury housing development in a northern suburb of Beijing. It seems the Governor can do no wrong when it comes to advertisers.
