BRITAIN is having a hard time reconciling its business interests and its self-professed environmental concerns. Although the British firm GEC-Alsthom has supplied turbine generators for China's Daya Bay nuclear power station near Hong Kong, the British establishment has vociferously protested against the setting up of the plant. There are fears the six million residents of Hong Kong will be exposed to grave risks in the event of a radiation leak from the plant, located just 50 km away on mainland China.

Hong Kong governor Chris Patten was miffed that he was "not welcome" at the plant's opening ceremony. The irony is that the Daya Bay project is a joint venture between the provincial government of Guangdong in China and Hong Kong's China Light and Power Co. Furthermore, 70 per cent of the electricity generated will go to Hong Kong.