THE Preliminary Working Committee (PWC) is held in very high regard in China. No less an official than Chinese President Jiang Zemin officiated at the PWC's closing ceremony in Beijing on Friday.
Xinhua (the New China News Agency) eulogised the PWC, proclaiming its 'success has lain in its trust in the people of Hong Kong' and that its 'views and proposals on the smooth transition have been widely accepted'. How many people in Hong Kong would agree with that, I wonder.
According to last week's opinion poll, the PWC's credibility has bottomed out, reaching its lowest point since its establishment in 1993, with fewer Hong Kong people than ever approving of its policies and approach.
How is it that a group which included so many eminent Hong Kong people could prove so singularly unable to defend our system and way of life? The PWC was set up by Beijing to punish Governor Patten for his modest reform proposals and to spearhead China's hardline efforts to control Hong Kong - even before 1997. It was also clearly intended to be Beijing's answer to the recently elected Legco. Hence, not a single democratically elected legislator was appointed to sit on the PWC.
Over the past decade, Hong Kong people have grown to expect greater transparency, accountability and openness in government and in our leaders.
Yet from its inception to its demise, the PWC seemed more a throwback to secretive colonial days than an advisory committee on sophisticated modern-day Hong Kong. Its meetings were behind closed doors and its policy pronouncements were made with scant consultation, often resulting in local and/or international outrage.