GOVERNOR Chris Patten says there is a ''red carpet ready to roll down the steps of Government House'' to welcome senior Chinese official Lu Ping.
He said during Legislative Council question time that it would be a matter of ''considerable satisfaction'' for the whole community if Mr Lu were to come to Hong Kong.
''I think we would throw our hats in the air . . . my door remains always open and there is a red carpet ready to roll down the steps of Government House,'' he said.
Mr Lu, director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, is said to have arranged a visit to the territory to attend meetings of the China-appointed Preliminary Working Committee (PWC). However, it is unlikely he will meet Mr Patten because of the row over political reform.
The Governor was less generous to the PWC, saying he would welcome it holding meetings in Hong Kong, just as he welcomed those of the International Lions and the International Rotary Club.
But he said all he could offer would be his ''thoughts and prayers'' that it would give ''advice in the interests of Hong Kong'' to the Chinese Government.
