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SCMP Reporter

Former Xinhua director Zhou Nan has launched another attack on Chris Patten, saying the last governor denied Asian values.

 Talking about Mr Patten's memoirs East and West, Mr Zhou said: 'I read a short critique of the book. The commentator described it as a 'disappointing book by a disappointed person'. I think that is a good comment.

 'Like many people in the West, [Mr Patten] entirely denied Asian values and Asian culture. The [Westerners] can no longer impose their values on other people,' he said at his home in Beijing.

 Mr Zhou succeeded the exiled Xu Jiatun after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and played a key role in the 13-year Sino-British tussle on the handover.

 At the helm of the Xinhua office, renamed Beijing's Liaison Office early this year, Mr Zhou avoided direct contact with Mr Patten.

 Recalling the hostile years, he said he had never attacked the last governor. 'We were at different levels. I didn't attack him as the 'sinner of a thousand years'. I only stated the fact he had committed 'three violations'.'  Mr Zhou was referring to Mr Patten's political reforms, branded by Beijing as a breach of the Joint Declaration, the Basic Law and understandings between the two sovereign nations.

  He said the governorship of Mr Patten and his political reforms were only part of British foreign policy towards Beijing.

 'I read a British internal document [in the early 1990s] that said [former prime minister] John Major's government predicted Deng Xiaoping's regime could not survive beyond 1997.

 'I think the prediction might be due to the Tiananmen incident,' he said.

 'In the document, it said their government could be more 'flexible' about the Joint Declaration. My understanding is that the term 'flexible' meant they need not necessarily follow it.

 'Mr Patten might have [pushed for democratic reforms] out of his own personal considerations, such as for his political career. But he mainly followed the government's policy,' said Mr Zhou.

   He said he spent most of his retirement reading, and still followed Hong Kong politics. But he retained his diplomatic manner, saying he was 'not in a position to comment' on current issues.



Former Xinhua boss keeps up fight with Patten