CHINESE University academic Professor Lau Siu-kai said in a recent interview that he would immediately quit the Preliminary Working Committee if China wanted his seat to go to Democrat Martin Lee Chu-ming.
'Somebody has to do the job. Will there be a better one to do the job if I don't do it? It does not appear to be the case,' he told a weekly magazine.
Speaking to the South China Morning Post in September last year, the pragmatist conceded he did not have lofty goals, just the modest wish of minimising damage to the territory in the aftermath of the breakdown of political co-operation.
Seen by many in the academic field as a conservative, the prominent sociologist has ironically become one of the few 'moderate voices' in the powerful body, formed by China last year to counter Governor Chris Patten's constitutional reforms.
If there has been support and sympathy for Professor Lau's cause, it is because few still harbour the illusion that China and Britain will be able to bury the hatchet and return to a full partnership in the final days of British rule.
Many have also pinned their hopes on the academic to help increase the transparency of the working organ and bring the community closer to their deliberations.
After more than 18 months of work, PWC-beat reporters have observed a sense of frustration in the deeds and words of the academic - often one of the limited sources of information on the closed-door discussions.
