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SCMP Reporter

PRO-BEIJING figures yesterday attacked Xinhua (New China News Agency) for producing a paper criticising Hong Kong's controversial old-age pension scheme ahead of a meeting on the plan scheduled for Wednesday.

 Some feared the de facto Chinese embassy was preparing to force its views on them.

 The six-page paper, which strongly criticised the compulsory pension scheme, was distributed to members of the Preliminary Working Committee and some Hong Kong affairs advisers to Beijing last week.

 It suggests the British Government has put forward the pension scheme shortly before 1997 as part of a conspiracy.

 And it accuses the British of greatly increasing welfare costs before the change of sovereignty, so leaving a large financial burden to the future government of the Special Administrative Region.

 Hong Kong Affairs adviser, legislator Tam Yiu-chung, urged Xinhua to withdraw the document.

 Mr Tam, who is also vice-chairman of pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) said: ''If they want to listen to opinions from the advisers, then they should listen to us rather than distributing their own position to us.''  Xinhua and the DAB appear split as the party supports the scheme, although it is asking the government to increase its contribution.

 Party heavyweight Chan Yuen-han, who has promoted the idea of a pension scheme for years, said she opposed Xinhua's position. ''The Xinhua paper said 'this is our opinion', but how could we have a consensus before holding any discussion?''  Ms Chan said the pension issue was suffering from ''noise pollution''. She doubted the Chinese officials being quoted anonymously in the press were in a position to comment.

 Fellow adviser and local delegate to the National People's Congress, Liu Yiu-chu, queried the objectives of the meeting if the views of Xinhua and Chinese officials were already fixed.

 ''Xinhua is taking the initiative to promote the discussion, but if the advisers have confidence in themselves and consider their integrity more important than agreeing with Xinhua, [they] could still express their opinion and reflect the views of the Hong Kong people,'' she said.

 A newly-appointed adviser, the chairman of the Association for Democracy and People's Livelihood, Frederick Fung Kin-kee, was also concerned about the Xinhua paper.

 ''I am worried some of the advisers might view this as an order from Beijing and accept it without any second thought,'' he said.

 Even if Xinhua had already formed a view on the pension scheme, it should keep an open mind, he added.

 ''They should listen rather than speak, and allow those interested parties to join the discussion too,'' he said.

 But Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University and Hong Kong Affairs adviser, Charles Kao Kuen said: ''Hong Kong is a place with freedom of speech. I do not see any problem over Xinhua promoting its own opinion. They can say anything they want.''  Xinhua's assistant director, Lee Wai-ting, defended the document, saying it only represented the views of the writer, not of the agency.



Advisers rap Xinhua for jumping the gun on pension scheme