Contents

Editorial (Service in China) - By John Wan
Alexander Mak nominated DGN 2004-05
Letters to Editor
More on BL23 - By Michael Eyles

editorial

Service in China

The last week saw another milestone in the development of China when Shanghai won the bid to host the 2010 World Expo. It is indeed good news for China and for the world, following Beijing's success to host the Olympics in 2008. The road to reforms in China is now irreversible. Anyone who fears that China would go back to the days of the 1966-1976 Cultutal Revolution would be living in a world of his own and hence irrelevant.

Long before China embarked on economic reforms, the Authorities had tried hard to create an image that Chinese people were free to practice religions. Indeed, the government would often organize meetings for the leaders of the five government-recognized religions - Buddhism, Catholicism, Islam, Protestantism and Taoism, even though some had said that such meetings had been designed to enable the leaders learn about government policies and political issues. These religious leaders were often cut off, at least until the late Seventies, from their headquarters and hence had difficulties aligning themselves with the mainstream. For example, the Catholics in the Mainland practised under the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association and could not take part in Vatican Council II when it convened in 1962. However, such limitation has not prevented the spirit of Vatican II to percolate and circulate in China, even though some would say that the spirit is manifested ina way which accomodates or recognizes political reality. For those who are not too familiar with Catholicism, the thrusts of Vatican II include empowerment of the laity. liturgical renewal and interreligious dialogue.

Some people would argue that the Catholic Church's view of social justice in China is limited to provision of services, such as homes for the elderly, nurseries and other government-supported social service projects. But these are very much needed services which have indeed substantially improved the lives and livelihood of the people involved. The Catholic Church in China has indeed fed the hungry, clothed the naked, made the blind see again and provided basic education for the illiterate.

Back to Rotary and Rotary International, all Rotary clubs disappeared in the Mainland after 1949; and RI had tried to re-introduce Rotary in the Mainland since the early Nineties. RI had stood firm on the principle that all clubs must be able to admit freely local citizens and report to RI without government intervention. Progress had been slow and efforts had even been degenerative at times, due mainly to a failure of the centre to recognize political reality and to deploy talents who could narrow the cultural and idealogical gap between the East and the West.

Meanwhile, our clubs in the District have been taking services to the Mainland for over 20 years, individually and collectively, in big or small ways. In the sense that the spirit of Vatican II has been alive and well in China, Rotary has been alive and well in China as well. Specifically, we have made and are continuing to cultivate good contacts and the latest efforts to immunize 1 million newborns in the Mainland against Hepatitis B in the next ten years is indeed a move in the right direction.

The leadership in the District have since provided input to the RI Board and it is indeed our hope that Board Members would duly appreciate the special role the District can assume in bringing back Rotary to China and take enlightened decisions in the direction.

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Letters to Editor

You are welcome to write to Club Webmaster John Wan on any topic, particularly in response to articles published in Kingspark News. We would publish all contributions as long as the authors identify themselves, the contents are not offensive or abusive, and would not offend common decency or common sense. You need not be a Rotarian to write to us and you have a choice to withhold your name in the published version. Where the contents make reference to statements or policies of individuals or organizations, we would try to obtain a response fro the latter for publication in the same issue if possible.

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More on BL23
By Michael Eyles

Inspired by the editorial in the last issue of Kingspark News on BL23, I would like to draw the attention of members to a Consultation Paper issued by the Government of the British Virgin Islands on a small piece of amendment legislation which for them will have a worldwide impact.

This comes from a government that has many fewer civil servants than we and except perhaps when the necessary talent is seconded, that does not have the inherent talent that our civil service has. For BL23 I really do feel the absence of a white paper gives the Authority less room for making concessions when the blue bill is published. As a business person I am, like the bankers, concerned with the free flow of information, e.g., the necessity (which will continue) of keeping research departments in Hong Kong for fear of falling foul of mainland laws.

Research departments on general economic and political matters deal with information on a daily basis which could be state secrets in the mainland; and research departments on particular credit risks deal with sensitive mainland persons and companies. The mainland has not yet adequately dealt with the aspect of lawyers' privileged information. The mainland does not yet have a culture of a professional advisor keeping his information confidential. There has for a long time in Hong Kong been an absence in public from the lips of politicians and senior officials of the words "checks and balances". I am not sure if I can do a letter for the 'News', but I will try.

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