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SCMP Reporter

RELATIONS with Beijing appeared to be heading for a new low last night as China launched a series of bitter broadsides against Governor Chris Patten.

  And Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office director Lu Ping opened up a new front in the attacks, revealing a secret British proposal to give civil servants a functional Legislative Council seat.

  He accused the Hong Kong Government of trying to politicise the civil service and of breaching the Joint Declaration. He warned this would disrupt the talks.

  Government House immediately denounced Mr Lu's revelations as breaking the rules of confidentiality surrounding the negotiations.

  Chinese chief negotiator and Vice-Foreign Minister Jiang Enzhu also weighed in with an attack.

  He accused Mr Patten of having ''ulterior motives'' in linking China's barring of labour dissident Han Dongfang to the freedom of movement of Hong Kong people after 1997.

  And Foreign Minister Qian Qichen joined the chorus of criticism by accusing the British side of trying to stall the talks progress.

  Speaking before an emergency meeting of the political sub-group of Beijing's new body on Hong Kong affairs, the Preliminary Working Committee (PWC), Mr Lu sharply attacked Britain's proposal that civil servants form one of the nine new functional constituencies in the 1995 polls.

  ''Since Britain has allocated a functional seat to civil servants, it implies civil servants can participate in politics. They can stand for election and be elected,'' he said. ''This will affect stability in the civil service as well as Government efficiency.''   It is understood this seat, with an electorate of 200,000, is one of the key elements in London's recent counter-proposals for nine new seats totalling one million voters.

  Mr Lu also urged Mr Patten to stay away from the Han controversy. ''He should mind his own business,'' he said.

  And Mr Lu hit out at a previously unnoticed Government policy of allowing most civil servants to join political parties, insisting it amounted to a major change.

  ''This has seriously undermined the Joint Declaration, which stated that no changes should be made to the civil service system,'' he said.

   ''Such changes would definitely affect the Sino-British talks on the 1994-95 electoral arrangements.''   His comments brought a sharp response from the Hong Kong Government.

  ''The two sides have agreed that the content of the talks should be confidential while they are taking place. Selective and distorted leaking does nothing to maximise the chances of success in the talks,'' a spokesman said.

  ''If the Chinese side now believes that it would be helpful to make public the proposals made by the two sides, then that is a matter they should raise in the talks.''   Analysts said this represented a veiled threat - if Beijing leaked any more information about the talks, Britain would retaliate by publishing its account of the negotiations.

  The Government spokesman also denied there were any plans to change the rules governing civil servants' participation in political activities.

  But Chinese Joint Liaison Group team leader Guo Fengmin hinted last night that Beijing would insist on raising this at the next session of the Sino-British body, to start on September 14.

 ''We have to talk about all matters related to the stability of the team of civil servants in the coming JLG meeting,'' he said.

    Xinhua (the New China News Agency) deputy director Zhang Junsheng hit back at the Government criticism of Mr Lu's violation of confidentiality.

  ''The British side leaked more secrets of the talks. They leaked the secret of the talks many times, using the name 'sources close to the British side','' he said.

  The row overshadowed the 10th round of talks, which began with Mr Jiang attacking Mr Patten over Friday's remarks that Hong Kong people were right to feel concerned about the precedent set by the Han case.

  ''Some people in the Hong Kong Government have purposefully confused the two matters and they have ulterior motives in doing so,'' China's chief negotiator said.

  British chief negotiator and Ambassador to Beijing, Sir Robin McLaren, disputed Mr Jiang's remarks, but said the issue had not affected the talks, and was not raised at yesterday's session.

  Meanwhile, Mr Qian told a visiting Hong Kong delegation Britain did not appear to want an early and successful outcome to the talks.

   ''Mr Qian stressed the Chinese side hoped the talks could bear fruit as quickly as possible. But it seemed the British side did not want the talks to end in good results so soon,'' said Wong Siu-yee, a spokesman for the Liberal Democratic Federation, after meeting the foreign minister.

  While British officials declined to directly confirm their proposed seat for civil servants, Sir Robin and Secretary for Constitutional Affairs Michael Sze Cho-cheung defended the concept.

  ''Civil servants are a very major force in Hong Kong. They are the largest single group and why not?'' Sir Robin said.

  But the proposal was sharply attacked by legislators from the United Democrats, Liberal Party and Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong, as well as some civil service union leaders.

  Chinese Civil Servants Association president Peter Wong Hyo said it would ''affect the political neutrality of the civil service''.

  But the chairman of the Non-Expatriate Civil Servants Union, John Luk Woon-cheung, supported the proposal in principle.

  Government officials expressed bewilderment at Mr Lu's accusation that they were politicising the civil service and breaking the Joint Declaration.

  The mainland remarks were based on a local Chinese-language press report on Friday. This cited a November 1990 Government circular, issued ahead of the territory's maiden direct-elections, which said that except for information officers, administrative officers and directorate grade officers, civil servants were allowed to take part in political groups.

  But PWC members sprang to Mr Lu's defence at yesterday's emergency political sub-group meeting on the issue.

  Former Executive and Legislative Councillor Maria Tam Wai-chu said it was understood the civil service system should remain unchanged at the time of the signing of the Joint Declaration and the drafting of the Basic Law.

  ''The changes as carried by the press report are tantamount to destroying the foundation of the Joint Declaration and the spirit of the Basic Law,'' she said.

  Mainland co-convenor Xiao Weiyun said civil servants told them they were not allowed to participate in politics during the drafting of the Basic Law. ''We want to maintain stability in the civil service no matter whether they are locals or expatriates.''   Hong Kong co-convenor Leung Chun-ying said convergence in the political system also meant convergence for the civil service. ''We are not only talking about convergence in electoral methods but in the government as a whole.'' 



Lu slams secret Patten plan