SAR deal with Fok caned
Jul 26, 2001
Carmen Cheung and Nelson Lee, Hong Kong iMail
THE government was accused yesterday of favouring tycoon Henry Fok Ying-tung with its plans for joint development of the Guangdong town of Nansha, where Mr Fok has a huge investment.
Criticism of the plan came from both the pro-democracy and pro-Beijing camps.
One legislator described it as a carbon copy of the Cyberport project, which was awarded to Richard Li Tzar-kai, second son of Li Ka-shing, without going through an open tender.
But Mr Fok rejected the criticism, saying his investment in Nansha was all through his Fok Ying-tung Foundation and profits were ploughed back into further investment or charities.
The plan emerged from Wednesday's meeting of the Hong Kong-Guangdong Co-operation Joint Conference at Government House.
Both governments signed a letter of intent to develop logistics, transport and high-technology industries in the Pearl Delta town an hour's drive northwest of Shenzhen and 90 minutes by sea from Hong Kong. The letter also calls for training and exchange of talent.
Nansha is part of Panyu, the sprawling city across the Pearl River from Guangzhou that is Mr Fok's home town. The pioneer investor in Nansha, he has invested about $3 billion there in the past 15 years.
Democratic Party legislator Fred Li Wah-ming said the letter of intent for the development sounded to him like a copy of Cyberport project.
``It raises suspicions that [Tung Chee-hwa] is favouring Mr Fok's family to gain support in next year's Chief Executive election,'' Mr Li said. Mr Fok and son Timothy are members of the Election Committee that will choose the next Chief Executive.
A pro-Beijing figure who refused to be named shared Mr Li's views, saying the Fok family would be the biggest winner from the plan. He said Nansha had little going for it but ``a massive piece of land'' and he doubted whether Hong Kong officials really understood what they had signed.
Political commentator Johnny Lau Yui-siu agreed the move reflected that Hong Kong officials lacked ``both knowledge and a far-sighted vision'' on how to co-operate with the mainland.
Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who co-chaired Wednesday's meeting, said yesterday the proposal was still ``in the preliminary stage'' and needed a lot of examination.
In an interview with TVB, Mr Fok - a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference - said Nansha was bigger than Macau and the development would take a long time.
His son Timothy Fok Tsun-ting praised the geographic location of Nansha as ``outstanding'', adding that the time was ripe to invest there. As Panyu was the family's home town, profit was not their sole consideration in investing there, he said.
He said that before Fok money poured in, Nansha was the poorest region in the delta and was described as ``the Siberia of Guangzhou''.
He said his family was still the biggest investor. Their projects included a deep-water port, the Luoxi Bridge linking Panyu and Humen, roads, a ferry service, a golf course and a just-completed 100,000-square-foot convention centre.
A plan for co-operation between Hong Kong and Zhuhai airports was also criticised yesterday. Mr Lau said Zhuhai Airport was operating well below capacity and he could not see how Hong Kong would benefit.
``Obviously, Guangdong Province is now absorbing nourishment from Hong Kong for its growth,'' he said.
27 July 2001 / 11:46 PM
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