THE Government is refusing to reveal the identity of Jardines' unsuccessful rivals for the Stonecutters Island naval base contract, despite a demand for information from China.
Finance officials said they would not disclose details because it would betray the confidence of the bidders, and discourage them from tendering for future contracts.
Beijing submitted a formal request for the information last Friday, following the Sunday Morning Post 's revelation that the $790 million contract had been won by Jardine-owned Gammon Construction Limited.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said Beijing should have been consulted in advance and now expected to receive full details of the bidding.
Governor Chris Patten and Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fang On-sang have so far dodged directly answering this request by publicly pledging to provide more details on 'the Government's general tendering procedures'.
But finance officials yesterday disclosed it would be impossible to pass over the names of the six unsuccessful bidders for the contract - or reveal whether any were mainland companies.
