PROMINENT pro-China politician Lo Tak-shing last night admitted he had to give up his seat on the crucial political affairs sub-group of Beijing's new body on Hongkong affairs to make way for others.
Mr Lo was one of the few who expressed interest in joining, but he failed to become a member of the political sub-group of the Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) for the Special Administrative Region Preparatory Committee.
Speaking on his return to the territory, the former executive and legislative councillor - who now publishes Window magazine - said he lost out because Beijing asked him to join the legal and law-and-order sub-groups instead.
''Everyone can only join two groups. Both the legal and law-and-order sub-groups did not have enough members. They [the Chinese side] pleaded very hard for me to join them, so I joined them,'' he explained.
''I had chosen the political sub-group as my first choice,'' he admitted.
But Mr Lo denied he was disappointed at failing to make it on to the group. ''Someone has to do this work,'' he said.
The Hongkong affairs adviser was widely thought to be one of the leading candidates to be Hongkong's first Chief Executive after 1997.