This ethical statement sponsored by XO

WE were yesterday invited to cover a Civil Litigation Training Course, to be held by Legal Business In Asia Ltd at the Hotel Victoria today.

The invitation said: ''We would like to offer free admission to a journalist from your publication, subject to the condition that: ''In the event that an article is published, our company name 'Legal Business In Asia' must appear in the article. If our name is edited out of the final copy, your publication will be liable to pay full price for attending the seminar.'' Other companies are also demanding similar guarantees, backed with financial threats.

At least one conference organiser has sent a hefty bill to a Hongkong newspaper.

This idea stinks. It compromises the sacred independence of the reporter's notebook.

In all likelihood, the company's name would form a natural part of such a write-up, but to try to ensure this with strong-arm tactics reveals a cavalier attitude to the freedom of the press.

It may seem like a small point, but if we let firms dictate what is printed, Hongkong will end up with a newspaper full of stories like this: ''Li Ka-shing, wearing a CROCODILE suit, yesterday made a dramatic announcement in the HILTON Hotel standing on an AXMINSTER carpet using a SHURE microphone.'' Pickled Gurkha PEOPLE concerned with placing Gurkhas in the Hongkong employment scene may enjoy this quote from the Financial Times' Observer column on Tuesday: What do you call a Gurkha training manual? A kukri book.