Hong Kong Moves Forward on Airport : Diplomacy: China has threatened to withhold support for badly needed facility if colony continues with political reforms.

The legislature of this British colony, in a sharp rebuke to Beijing, voted Friday to move forward with construction of a multibillion-dollar airport despite a threat that China may block its completion.

The 27-25 vote constituted a narrow victory for supporters of beleaguered Gov. Chris Patten, who is engaged in a bitter struggle with Beijing over plans for political reform in Hong Kong before its return to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.

China, fearful that increased democracy here would weaken its post-1997 control, is widely seen as demanding abandonment of the proposed reforms as the price of its support for the badly needed new airport. Without China’s backing, arranging loans for the $14.5-billion project would be difficult or impossible.

In urging legislators to approve $866 million in funding for preparation of the airport site and other urgent work, the government refused to say what it will do if China continues to withhold support. One option would be to suspend construction until 1997, hoping that work could be finished after China’s resumption of sovereignty. Another option could be to carry on in the face of Chinese anger.

Financial Secretary Hamish Macleod described the government strategy as a “step-by-step” approach fully in keeping with an airport Memorandum of Understanding reached with Beijing last year. That agreement called for specific areas of cooperation in the airport project but did not spell out financing details. Macleod said Friday that providing specifics now about the Hong Kong government’s future options might kill any chance of reaching a financial agreement with Beijing.

The tight vote reflected a split within the Legislative Council that mirrors the divisions of Hong Kong public opinion, between those who place priority on democratic reforms as a means of protecting Hong Kong’s civil liberties and those who believe that only accommodation with China can assure prosperity and stability through the 1997 transition.

Currently, only 18 out of 60 Legislative Council seats are filled through direct elections. Patten’s proposals, while not providing for complete democracy, would give the people of Hong Kong a much stronger electoral voice.

Legislator Martin Lee, chairman of the United Democrats of Hong Kong, which holds 13 of the 18 directly elected seats, expressed relief at the outcome of Friday’s vote and took a verbal jab at those who voted against the proposal.

“I think if the vote had gone the other way, it would have obviously affected the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong because then it would be sending a very terrible message to the outside world,” Lee said. “People would get the message or the impression that the governor cannot govern. If the vote had gone the other way, then it would have been an expression of no confidence in the government. . . . And it is obvious that those people who have been saying that they value prosperity and stability in fact have voted against it.”

Opponents of granting the government’s funding request insisted that top priority be placed on reaching an agreement with China on airport financing. In this view, any sign of a go-it-alone approach might further anger Beijing, making completion of the project more difficult. These legislators expressed willingness either to delay implementation of the site-preparation contract or to approve funding only through March.

“We feel that if we can get agreement with China, if we can have an amicable atmosphere, it will be good for us all,” argued one legislator holding this view.

In an apparent attempt to influence the vote, Cheng Guoxiong, deputy director of the New China News Agency’s Hong Kong branch, which functions as Beijing’s representative office in the colony, charged Thursday that the Hong Kong government was violating the Memorandum of Understanding by taking “unilateral action.”

Tsang Tak-sing, chief editor of the Hong Kong-based pro-Beijing Chinese-language newspaper Ta Kung Pao, which generally reflects official Chinese views, said after Friday’s vote that “we regard it as ‘Hong Kong government go-it-alone.’ ”

Lee, the United Democrats’ leader, expressed concern after the vote that more difficulties with Beijing lie ahead.

“The fact that this vote has gone this way does not mean that we could be complacent about the political reform, because China would still do her best to try to twist legislators’ arms,” he said. “But I really hope that China will put an end to all this. It doesn’t lead to any smooth transition if China continues with this barrage of intimidation.”

Holley is a Times staff writer, and Courtney is a special correspondent.