Last week’s petition will have added to its anxiety: the 45 signatories crossed the generations and included Wang Ganchang, 88, an eminent scientist and father of China’s nuclear bomb. Evidence that a network of contacts has been established across such a range of opposition voices must concern the government as it prepares for the death, unlikely to be long delayed, of the paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping.The author of last week’s petition, Xu Liangying, 75, said yesterday: “The government is scared to death But what are they scared of? … We have no plans to stage demonstrations, we have never said we want to stage a demonstration. All we are asking for is tolerance.”There are also signs of top-level manoeuvrings ahead of Mr Deng’s death.

President Jiang Zemin is apparently masterminding a purge of potential hardline opponents at the heart of the Communist Party. The latest victim is Yuan Mu, replaced as head of the State Council’s Research Centre He was a strong proponent of the 1989 crackdown. Another hardliner, Chen Xitong, “resigned” last month as party head in Peking.. FROM STEPHEN VINES

in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong security services faced unprecedented resistance over the weekend from Vietnamese boat people who feared that a transfer to a new detention centre was a prelude to deportation.The operation to move 1,500 inmates ended yesterday after a day-long battle that left a reported 195 people injured.The government, which has previously issued grossly misleading estimates of the number of Vietnamese injured, said that 168 of those hurt were members of the security forces. It acknowledged, however, that the most seriously injured person was a one-year-old girl who is “in satisfactory condition”.The authorities say police and prison officers were attacked with spears, stones and firebombs.In response some 2,000 officers, most in full riot gear, rained down a hail of 800 rounds of tear-gas on the boat people.Yesterday a group of lawyers affiliated with the Refugee Concern pressure group presented a petition to the Governor, Chris Patten, urging him to end the use of tear-gas in the camps. “Someone is going to be killed if the government maintains its stance,” said Peter Barnes, a member of the group.Brian Bresnihan, the government’s refugee co-ordinator, said the officers had “acted with commendable bravery and restraint”.A spokeswoman from the prisons department said the occasion was the first in which the entire population of the Whitehead detention centre – about 11,500 men, women and children – had been mobilised to resist the authorities.Although the government denies it, the Vietnamese believe the move from Whitehead to the more isolated High Island detention centre is part of a plan to speed up the deportation of those who have failed to secure refugee status.China has made it clear that all the 23,251 Vietnamese boat people in Hong Kong must be out of the territory by 1 July 1997, when it resumes sovereignty of the British colony Only 1,659 of this number have gained refugee status..

Graeme Odgers, the chairman of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, this weekend called for the reform of competition legislation to give the Office of Fair Trading tougher powers against restrictive practices. He also added to the pressure on Michael Heseltine, President of the Board of Trade, to admit that Britain is in danger of falling behind in competition policy and change the law. While lining up on these issues with Sir Bryan Carsberg, the outgoing head of the Office of Fair Trading, Mr Odgers nevertheless warned against tampering with the basic structure of the British competition system. His statement, in an exclusive interview with the Independent, came only days before a report by the House of Commons Trade and Industry select committee is expected to criticise heavily current policy and back Sir Bryan’s proposals for major reforms.
Rejecting calls by Sir Bryan to merge the OFT and the MMC and to limit the role of politicians, Mr Odgers said: “We all agree there is a need for development of the system and if what he has done is to help give impetus to that I will be very pleased. But I will be deeply disappointed if it results in the destruction of the underlying regulatory system, which is enormously strong.”Sir Bryan’s parting shot as he left last week was to call for a complete shake-up of the British system to align it more closely with the methods used in the European Commission’s competition directorate. This would include harsh and immediate penalties for those found guilty of anti-competitive behaviour and would reduce the control of politicians on key decisions such as restructuring monopolistic industries.Mr Odgers said that such an extensive reform would be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Furthermore, he believed that the Government “has the right and the responsibility to make the decisions and to carry the can”.He agreed with Sir Bryan that the Restrictive Trade Practices Act needed to be substantially amended or replaced to bring it into line with European legislation. This would allow the authorities to prohibit abuses and levy large fines. At present, offenders must be proved guilty and then offend again before action can be taken.The Government agreed in principle to these restrictive practice law changes six years ago but has failed to act. Sir Bryan has repeatedly expressed his own frustration and Mr Odgers now makes clear that in this area they are of one mind.But in contrast to Sir Bryan, who wants to depoliticise the system, Mr Odgers strongly defended the role of politicians in key areas of policy other than restrictive practices. He acknowledged he was disappointed whenever his recommendations were not accepted by Mr Heseltine – for example, after the MMC report on the gas industry. But he said: “If mandatory change is to be made in an industry it is better to be made by a government answerable to Parliament than by officials or indeed by a court.”Mr Odgers called on Sir Bryan’s sucessor – as yet unnamed – to work towards an understanding between the OFT, the MMC and the Government. “While there are differences of views and functions, each party must approach their job in a way that is sympathetic towards the system otherwise the system is going to creak,” he said.Mr Odgers angrily rebutted allegations that under his stewardship business has been favoured over the interests of consumers.