CHINA'S top spokesman on Hongkong affairs, Mr Lu Ping, warned last night that the territory would ultimately suffer most if it decided to confront Beijing on plans for greater democracy.
Mr Lu, director of the State Council's Hongkong and Macau Affairs Office, said Hongkong was not an independent political entity and was therefore hardly likely to survive if it confronted China.
''If Hongkong is to confront China, Hongkong people may have to face a lot of hardship,'' he said during an interview with TVB, broadcast last night.
The close relationship between the economies of Hongkong and southern China might also work against the territory during a protracted row over the political reforms proposed by the Governor, Mr Chris Patten, and because of this he thought it unlikely Hongkong people would confront China on the issue.
Asked if China would bar people who supported Mr Patten's reforms from politics after 1997, Mr Lu said it was up to the future Special Administrative Region Government to decide.
But he dismissed suggestions that the formation of a consultative committee to advise Beijing on transitional matters would hamper the authority of the Hongkong Government.
He said the consultative committee was needed to overlook matters ranging from political, economical and social affairs straddling 1997, and was not a 'shadow' government.