Lu misses an opportunity

OVER the years Jimmy McGregor has served the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce with distinction - if not always without controversy. He has represented the business community in the Legislative Council with energy and lucid argument. Despite the opposition of more conservative elements in the business world, he consistently has spoken out for liberal values and democracy.

Last night he was overwhelmingly voted off the chamber's general committee. The weakness of his support is a pointer to what is likely to happen to him in next year's functional constituency elections to the Legislative Council.

If he stands for the commercial constituency against Henry Tang Ying-yen, he likely will lose his Legco seat. Mr Tang won more than double Mr McGregor's votes.

It is tempting to reflect on the ingratitude of an organisation that will dump a man who has devoted so much of his time and energy to serving it. But while the defeat is sad for Mr McGregor, it has been fated for some time. The days when he could play the proxy vote system - which he opposed - to defeat its main proponents in functional constituency polls now seem to be over. Last year, the committee elections produced an overwhelmingly pro-China slate. The confirmation of that trend this year was only to be expected. There have been allegations that the pro-China camp stepped up the membership of like-minded people in the chamber to swing votes in its favour. But there can be little doubt that the business community in general has swung away from the political values Mr McGregor espouses.

But while Mr McGregor undoubtedly was braced for last night's landslide defeat, it will be a severe blow for Governor Chris Patten and the forces of democracy and political reform. That will not necessarily be reflected in the Legislative Council's deliberations on the Governor's political reform package. Mr McGregor will still be in the legislature when the reform bills are debated and Mr Tang, his main rival, already sits in Legco as an appointed member of the Liberal Party. Moreover, Mr McGregor has supported only some of Mr Patten's proposals. A vigorous proponent of the Governor's plan to democratise the 1995 Election Committee, he is equally opposed to the proposal to extend the functional constituency franchise to 2.7 million people.

Those who reject Mr Patten's reform plan, however, will seize on Mr McGregor's defeat as a vindication of their position. It will be one more sign that anyone in the business community supporting reform will feel very lonely, even before 1997. Mr McGregor's fate confirms that anyone hoping for a political career in the Special Administrative Region will need to think very carefully before making any democratic instincts known publicly.