Chinese officials risked giving legitimacy to local criminals by holding meetings with triad leaders, police warned yesterday.
The admission by a former senior Xinhua (New China News Agency) official that he had met triad chiefs to discuss the resumption of sovereignty before signing the Joint Declaration has angered local detectives.
Wong Man-fong, a former deputy secretary-general of Xinhua, admitted at a forum on Saturday that an agreement was reached with triads before the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1984.
During the public talk at Baptist University, Mr Wong said he had requested the meeting and asked triad leaders not to upset Hong Kong's prosperity and stability in the run-up to the handover.
He said the triad leaders agreed not to destabilise the territory and said they would order their members not to rob Chinese-funded institutions.
Mr Wong said he believed it would be difficult for the police to smash all the triad groups.