DOUGLAS Hurd's visit to Hong Kong and unprecedented meeting with the full Joint Liaison Group (JLG) could hardly come at a more opportune moment. If the British Foreign Secretary is looking for a pointer to the way the Sino-British relationship is developing in advance of his talks with his Chinese counterpart, Qian Qichen, later this month, he need look no further than the renewed war of words over the participation of Jardines in the development of Container Terminal 9 (CT9).
Unless the mood changes unexpectedly in the next few days, Mr Hurd will have every reason to put it to Mr Qian that China is not living up to its previous pledges to separate politics from economics. He should deliver the same reminder to the Chinese JLG team today.
There is too much at stake for Hong Kong for its interests to be set aside for the remainder of the transition. The JLG must make progress on everything from the financing of the airport railway to the promotion of post-1997 travel documents. It must not get bogged down in further recriminations.
Throughout the debate on CT9, the row over the financing of the new airport and the discussions on a series of other areas of disagreement in the JLG, China has sought to pin the blame on Britain, which has responded in kind. But while both nations might gain face from this slanging match, the people and economy of Hong Kong can only lose.
Beijing's fury at Jardines and its representative Martin Barrow for his last minute decision to abstain from the Legislative Council vote on the Governor's constitutional package is easily understood. But it should not be forgotten that China has been holding up agreement on CT9 since long before the Legco vote this summer. However much China may have historical and continuing reason to despise Jardines, Hong Kong deserves better from both its present and future sovereign powers than mutual accusations of political discrimination and favouritism in the awarding of Government contracts.
The two foreign ministers are said to get on well personally. However, Mr Hurd should remind Mr Qian of China's obligations under the 1984 Joint Declaration to collaborate in the maintenance of stability and prosperity in Hong Kong and ask him to reflect on whether continued stonewalling on major economic and infrastructural decisions is conducive to maintaining confidence and stability.
