Renamed Xinhua becomes a new force in Hong Kong's politics

But what the name change proves above all else, is that Beijing will make decisions directly without any reference to its new territories.

Only when a Hong Kong newspaper broke the news on Jan. 15 did the people -- including officials -- in Hong Kong and Macau know that the name of Xinhua was going to change.

Hong Kong's National Peoples's Congress local deputy (港區全國人民大會代表) and president of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai (范徐麗泰), said Xinhua only notified NPC deputies of the name change on the morning of Jan. 17, one day before the change went into effect.

In fact, Tung Chee-hua (董建華), the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, was warned that Xinhua's renaming as a Liaison Office would legitimize it as a second power base. Tung brushed off this concern, saying the office's responsibilities "do not impinge on Hong Kong's autonomy."

And just what are the Liaison Office's responsibilities? According to a Xinhua dispatch, the office will:

* liaise with the office of the commissioner of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and with the Hong Kong Garrison;

* liaise with and help PRC authorities supervise China-funded organizations;

* liaise with members of all the professions in the SAR, foster cross-border exchanges and reflect the views of Hong Kong people to the PRC government;

* deal with affairs related to Taiwan; and

* handle "central government tasks."

Though, for the most part, the central Chinese government has maintained a hands-off policy in dealing with the territory over the past two-and-a-half years, many critics said that this is because Tung has "decided" everything according to the will of Beijing.

It is hardly surprising that Tung Chee-hua, a successful and well-known businessman but a hesitant politician, has been accused of being a "yes-man" to Beijing. Local officials have complained that he never discussed with them whether Hong Kong should apply to be host of the next Asian Games. His decision to do so was to create a platform for China's athletes. This might also answer the question why Tung didn't think the Liaison Office's responsibilities will "impinge on Hong Kong's autonomy" -- there isn't much left to impinge on.

In an old joke about Mao Zedong (毛澤東), the late strongman complained that his telephone bill to God was much more expensive than the Pope's, to which the Pope replied:"of course, my calls are local and yours are long distance." The renaming of Xinhua will undoubtedly save a lot of money for Tung Chee-hua.

Cheryl Lai (賴秀如) is a senior editor at the Taipei Times.