Storm Over the Law

The case first surfaced last June, on the eve of Britain's handover of Hong Kong to Beijing. The local Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) announced that six executives from Sing Tao Holdings Ltd. (which owns the Standard) were arrested for allegedly conspiring to cook circulation figures. The English-language paper, which claims a circulation of about 60,000, is suspected of printing up to 23,000 extra copies a day between 1994 and May 1997, then selling them to a bogus distribution firm.

When the charges were eventually passed down on March 18, three Standard officials -- general manager Henrietta So, ex-circulation chief Wong Wai-shing and finance manager Tang Cheong-shing -- were named. All pleaded not guilty. Notably missing from the charge sheet was publisher Aw herself, even though the ICAC publicly stated that the three had "conspired with Aw Sian to defraud the purchasers."

The case raised some interesting questions. Why did Hong Kong's anti-graft agency involve itself in a relatively simple case of fraud, ostensibly more appropriate for the police? And why did Justice Secretary Elsie Leung decline to bring charges against Aw? Answering the first question, a commission spokesman said the case had begun after a confidential complaint about illegal practices, which included bribery. The ICAC found no corruption, but it decided to pursue the probe anyway. "We're empowered by the law to do so," said the spokesman.

Not charging Aw put Hong Kong's justice chief squarely on the defensive. Leung said she had made her decision in the public interest and declined to say more as the case was now before the courts. The evidence against the three executives would be made public during their upcoming trial. The public, Leung implied, might then be able to make any inferences about the publisher.

That, of course, left Hong Kong's various political camps free to speculate. Liberals were quick to note that Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and Aw had been business associates. Tung was a non-executive director of Sing Tao for seven years before he declared his candidacy for the SAR's top job. Others pointed out that Aw is a local member of the advisory Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. For them, it was a clear case of cronyism and toadying to Beijing.

Democratic Party chairman Martin Lee said he was concerned about a "pattern of non-prosecution" of cases potentially sensitive to China. He cited another, the recent decision not to prosecute the local Xinhua News Agency for breaching Hong Kong's Privacy Act. The official Chinese body had failed to respond by due deadline to a request by former liberal lawmaker Emily Lau for any personal-data files it had on her. "The rule of law means no individual or organization is above the law," said Lee.

Those more sympathetic to China had their own suspicions. They saw the hand of the British behind the move against a newspaper which tended to be anti-government during the time of Governor Chris Patten. After all, they argued, why come down so hard on the Standard when inflating circulation is thought to be a common practice? And why use the most feared instrument of state power in the territory, which answers only to the governor, if it wasn't to punish the paper and humiliate its high-profile boss?

Nor were such views limited to the pro-China camp. "In the past, the ICAC has served the British in Hong Kong," wrote commentator Law Ah in the independent Hong Kong Economic Journal. "Operating under absolute secrecy, it sometimes, under the pretext of investigating corruption, was used to target political foes." Patten is long gone, but whatever his role, some who link him with the Sing Tao affair think that his sentiments are being advanced by his handpicked local deputy, Chief Secretary Anson Chan. The day after the prosecutions were announced, rumors swept Hong Kong that she would resign over the controversy. Chan quickly denied such talk.

Leung's appearance before the SAR legislature on March 23 failed to shed any more light on the mystery. "I understand the public would like me to tell the whole story," she said. In the future "I hope I can make a statement, but I'm not sure." That only left room for more speculation.