The Times, London 6 December 1995 - From Jonathan Mirsky in Hong Kong

PEKING in the course of the last week has called Chris Patten, the Governor of Hong Kong, "a great dictator"; Lee Teog-hui, President of Taiwan, "a god-like dictator"; and the Dalai Lama a "cheat", "meddler", "betrayer", "saboteur" and "dictator of an inhuman serfdom".

Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet, in Peking's eyes, are "lost" or restive "frontier" regions. For more than 2,000 years, such areas were a great imperial concern, since they were populated by people whose loyalty was suspect. In the 7th century Tibetan cavalry briefly seized the Chinese capital. Dangerous frontier leaders could establish "barbarian" dynasties such as the Yuan between 1206 to 1368 and the Qing from 1644 to 1911.

Peking insists Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet are domestic matters dragged into the international arena by men of ill will. When China's leaders rain their rhetorical fire on Mr Patten. Mr Lee and the Dalai Lama, Tibet's temporal and spiritual leader, they are continuing a tradition of demonising its enemies.

During the first two years of his role here as Governor, Mr Patten was excoriated as a "whore", "serpent", "Buddha" and "disgraced for a thousand years". Mr Lee has been described as "the root and source" of the present had state of Sino-American relations, while the Dalai Lama is normally "the criminal splittist Dalai". Mr Patten. President Lee and the Dalai Lama are all scapegoats who serve as a warning to others to shun their ideas or policies.

Since 1949, when the Communists came to power, it has been claimed that the citizens of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Tibet welcome the prospect of reunion with the motherland: in Taiwan and Tibet this process is being delayed by traitors.

In Hong Kong, Peking charges, Mr Patten has wrecked what would have been a smooth handover of British sovereignty in 1997.

Tibet is the trickiest of its problems: almost no Tibetans outside China support Peking's claim that Tibet has been part of China for more than 1,000 years. The cultural differences between China and Tibet in language, religion, customs, food and dress, marriage and burial are profound.

It is wormwood to Peking that the Dalai Lama continues to be worshipped by his people and that, although no country recognises Tibetan independence, the Dalai Lama is respected globally - even, though cautiously, in the White House - and has been awarded the Nobel Prize.

Taiwan's indigenous people have long been uneasy under the rule of the Nationalists, composed of refugees from the mainland, and almost every one dreads his prospects if China should ever become the sovereign power. In Hong Kong, the population has been swollen by millions of refugees from communism, and polls show fear and apathy as 1997 approaches.

Peking cannot accept the meagre enthusiasm for the motherland in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Missile tests failed to prevent Taiwan's recent parliamentary elections. In Hong Kong, verbal abuse has not deterred citizens from voting for democrats to Tibet, Peking's use last week of an arcane Buddhist ritual of select a Panchen Lama will convince few that China's choice, and not the Dalai Lama's nominee, is the genuine incarnation.

In China, too, problems appear easier to deal with if a handful of people or a person can be blamed.

At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution in l0, the two key targets for Maoists were President Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, then General Secretary of the Communist Party. After Mao Tse-ting's death, blame for the Cultural revolution's catastrophic events was placed on the Gang of Four instead of the late Chairman. Almost no attempt was made to fathom how a few people were able to mobilise millions into attacking and killing millions of comrades.

Among the dissidents today, the key target is Wei Jingsheng who spent almost 15 years in jail from 1979, before being briefly released. Past month he was charged with trying to overthrow the State.

In Taiwan and Tibet, Peking has achieved little success in turning the people against President Lee and the Dalai Lama. In Hong Kong, the attacks on Mr Patten have been welcomed by those Chinese and foreigners who disapprove of his democratic reforms and, increasingly, by some in government who know that close association with him will cost them dear when their new master takes over. But last week, when a senior Peking official called Mr Patten a craze driver who will not qualify for a licence in 1997, even some of those eager to placate China felt this was an insult too far.