THE Preparatory Committee's willingness to listen to the views of the Bar Association, radical students and other groups openly opposed to the planned provisional legislature appears to be a remarkable change of tack for a group which last week banned the Professional Teachers' Union from attending its consultations in Hong Kong this weekend. It is certainly a welcome development.
Refusing to have any dealings with those with opposing views is no way for Beijing to win the hearts and minds of the people of the territory - or to develop confidence in the way the future Special Administrative region will be run. The apparently dogged determination of Chinese officials to sideline their critics in recent weeks had undermined previous work done to repair public confidence, so the attitude shown yesterday can only be for the good.
Perhaps the flow of statements and articles in Hong Kong during the past two weeks calling on China to be more receptive to others' views has not been entirely in vain. The Governor set a good example last week when he chose not to discipline Executive Councillors Raymond Ch'ien Kuo-fung and Tung Chee-Hwa for breaking ranks over the handover legislature. The implications of that decision may not have been lost on the Preparatory Committee, of which Mr Tung is a leading member.
The evidence that the Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Lu Ping, and his colleagues are at least prepared to hear out some of their opponents will come as a particular relief to those - like some of the 14 legislators on the Preparatory Committee - who have tried to steer a middle course between the Chinese and democratic camps. It should also be welcomed, if cautiously, by the community at large.
Cautiously, because it is not clear how far the readiness to listen to varying views goes - or what effect dissenting opinions will have. The Joint Liaison Group diplomat, Chen Zuo'er, who is not known as a man who fears giving a blunt opinion, urged delegates yesterday to speak their minds but warned that it was not possible to 'listen to all views at the same time'. Mainland officials might be physically present, he seemed to be saying, but they will decide who they want to pay attention to.
That is certainly better than an outright snub or a refusal to listen to any of those who differ with the Chinese position. It is, in fact, not so different from what British governors tend to do when they are determined to get their own way.
