Adviser urges mainland to allay HK fears

FILM director and comedian Michael Hui Koon-man, officially named yesterday as an adviser to Beijing, said Chinese leaders needed to address Hong Kong people's fears and lack of confidence in them.

'To improve people's confidence, the Chinese Government should handle Hong Kong issues with sincerity and flexibility,' he said.

Mr Hui was speaking after a discussion with Chinese officials Lu Ping and Zhou Nan and 38 other advisers.

They touched on topics including the importance of Hong Kong's stability and prosperity, the new adviser said.

But Mr Hui questioned the need to discuss such issues. 'Hong Kong is already stable and prosperous. What need is there to talk about it?' Former senior government official John Chan Cho-chak, one of four former government officials among the latest batch of advisers, underlined the importance of a smooth transition for the civil service.

He told Chinese officials: 'It is the wish of all civil servants and Hong Kong people that the Sino-British governments will increase co-operation.' It was also a common concern among advisers that senior government officials could continue to serve the community after 1997, said Mr Chan, a former secretary for education and manpower.

Former secretary for the treasury, Yeung Kai-yin, said he suggested transitional issues that needed to be solved before and after 1997 should be clearly separated.

Mr Yeung and other new appointees received their letters of appointment from Mr Lu, Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office and Mr Zhou, head of the local branch of Xinhua (the New China News Agency).

Top leaders including President Jiang Zemin, Prime Minister Li Peng, Vice-Premiers Zhu Rongji and Qian Qichen, and the two newly promoted deputies Jiang Chunyun and Wu Bangguo looked on.

Legislator Edward Ho Sing-tin said that Mr Lu had admitted the difficulty of issuing the Special Administrative Region passports before 1997.

Mr Lu reportedly said existing documents such as the British Nationality (Overseas) passport could be used after 1997 if the SAR passports were not ready.

A China News Service report said 'quite a lot of advisers' criticised the Hong Kong Government for a failure to show sincerity in co-operating with China.