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Paul Yip

Paul Yip Kwok-wah is a man who attracts mixed reactions.

  On the one hand, he is said to be an underground Communist party member, a man with close connections to the Shanghai clan leaders, including President Jiang Zemin . Perhaps he is even the undercover superlord of the post-handover administration.

  On the other hand, some democrats describe him as the most liberal of Chief Executive-designate Tung Chee-hwa's inner circle.

  So what does Mr Yip, himself, say? The man who was appointed special adviser to Mr Tung in January prefers to describe himself simply as a political veteran with more than 40 years' experience. Yet he seems to understand the confusion.

  'Many people are mystified by my background and connections,' the 53-year-old businessman said.

  'I am not a member of the Chinese Communist Party.

  'I am an adviser to Mr Tung and my views will be considered by him alongside his other advisers. I am not sure how close I am among Mr Tung's advisers.'   Mr Yip's name began to catch the eye when he injected funds to keep the China-watching magazine, Contemporary, going in 1992.

  He closed it down in 1995.

  His appointment to the last batch of Hong Kong Affairs Advisers, and subsequently as a Preparatory Committee member, was also noted. But it was his appointment as special adviser to Mr Tung this year which made him an important power-broker in the post-1997 administration.

  The post itself is unprecedented. No one is sure what Mr Yip is going to do and whether he will attend Executive Council meetings and have access to confidential papers.

  In announcing the appointment, Mr Tung only said: 'Mr Yip has a good network of contacts and research capability to support my role as the Chief Executive.'   That network is typified by the membership list of the think-tank Mr Yip nurtured and chaired, the Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, established in 1995.

  It pulled together leading democrat Anthony Cheung Bing-leung and Hong Kong Affairs Adviser Antony Leung Kam-chung. Kwong Chi-kin, the legal adviser for the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions, was also a member.

  But Mr Yip's connections in the political arena go much deeper than that.

  His first major political action was to take part in a drive to protect Chung Hwa Middle School, seen as a patriotic school, mobilised by the pro-China schools and mass organisations in 1957.

  Mr Yip was 14 at the time but he was already the student union representative of Heung To Middle School, the major leftist school.

  Later, he joined the Hok Yau Club, a major youth body from within the pro-China camp pooling students and young graduates.

  Mr Yip knew leading democrat Szeto Wah at that time. Mr Szeto was also an active member of the club in the late 1950s.

  He continued his activities in Hok Yau Club and helped in many of the programmes and activities until he left it in 1967.

  'I had thought of joining the party during that period but the timing was not right for me,' Mr Yip said.

  'I was too young in the late 50s. But later, I was not that interested.'   The Cultural Revolution in the late 60s and the defection of former defence minister Lin Biao in 1971 crushed his confidence in the Communist party and the mainland system.

  He began to distance himself from the pro-China camp and politics at large.

  Later, he resigned from his job as a teacher and started his own business venture in China.

  His first major project was Yangtze River Hotel in Shanghai and, through the project, he began to nurture links with leaders in Shanghai.

  'The first Shanghai mayor I met was Wang Daohan .'   It is known Mr Yip was introduced to Mr Wang by Li Chuwen , then the deputy director of Xinhua (the New China News Agency).

  Mr Li was said to be President Jiang's adviser on Hong Kong affairs.

  'After that, I began to build my business ventures in the city which I think will be the economic hub of China,' Mr Yip said.

  Today, his Renful Group has extensive business interests in Shanghai, including real estate, computers, hotels and transport.

  They have led to personal contacts with Shanghai leaders including Mr Jiang, Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji and Wu Bangguo .

  'My experience is you could build up useful connections through business deals rather than political links.'   Mr Yip kept a low profile on the local political scene throughout the 1980s but he maintained ties with emerging political groups such as Meeting Point and the Hong Kong Affairs Society during that time.

  The two bodies later became the crux of the Democratic Party.

  It was the student movement and the subsequent crackdown in June 1989 which brought Mr Yip back on to the territory's political stage, he said.

  His decision to fund Contemporary, the magazine founded by former Wen Wei Po journalists who were forced to leave the paper for supporting the movement, was one sign of this.

  But he rejoined the pro-China camp in 1995 when he was appointed a Hong Kong Affairs Adviser and then a Preparatory Committee member in 1996.

  Mr Yip said he rejoined as a liberal entrepreneur who did not share Communist ideals.

  'After all these years, I am not someone who supports class struggle, one-party rule or extreme nationalism.

  'I think a liberal and pluralistic society with an open, democratic and accountable government is what we should have in Hong Kong as well as in China,' he said.

  Admitting Hong Kong would have minimal impact on political change in China, Mr Yip believed Hong Kong people should build the territory in their own way and strive hard to maintain it.

  'We should not compromise our quest for democracy and everyone in the territory should fight for the goal.'   He also praised many of the changes brought by Governor Chris Patten.

  They had brought a new political culture to the territory, including a more open and responsive government.

  'We should not denounce everything he did in the last few years,' he said.

  And for 'one country, two systems' to work, the democrats should stay at the forefront of affairs. 'Martin Lee Chu-ming and Szeto Wah should be as active after the handover as they are now. This is what one country, two systems means.'   But the political veteran admits his is a minority view in Mr Tung's team.

  'I would not say I am the only one to have such views but we are definitely the minority.'   So far he is comfortable working with Mr Tung, a man with whom he keeps in close contact.

  'I meet him more than once a week and have telephone exchanges even more frequently,' Mr Yip says.

  'He will call me for some advice any time he wants to, including early in the morning and very late at night. Sometimes, even when I am abroad.'   But no, he repeats, he is not a Communist party member, despite the allegation made in an Open Magazine article.

  'After all these years in politics, I am not disturbed by these things any more.

  'Also, being a party member these days would be an advantage rather than a disadvantage.' 



The 'mystery man' at Tung's shoulder