Vice-Premier Qian Qichen is to meet Tung Chee-hwa, the Executive Council and principal officials tomorrow during a stopover en route for Beijing. But a Chief Executive's Office spokesman dismissed suggestions that Mr Qian's whirlwind visit was due to the bird flu crisis. Mr Qian was invited to come to Hong Kong when Mr Tung paid his duty visit to Beijing last month, she explained. She said it was not known if the two men would discuss possible co-operation with the mainland to tackle the spread of the virus. There was no fixed agenda for the meeting, the spokesman added. Mr Qian, accompanied by his wife, Zhou Hanqiong, and a delegation from the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation, will arrive in Hong Kong tomorrow morning after his visit to the Middle East and South Africa. He will stay until the afternoon. During the stopover, Mr Qian will attend a lunch hosted by Mr Tung at Government House. Also invited will be representatives from political and economic sectors as well as community leaders. Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong chairman Tsang Yok-sing, who has been invited to the reception, also believed Mr Qian's visit had nothing to do with the flu. A Democratic Party spokesman said they had not received an invitation.
