Reacting to reports of remarks made by Lee last week in Hong Kong, his press secretary said the Singapore minister never told Tung he had no moral authority, but was merely referring to opposition claims.

Lee told a business chamber luncheon Dec 8 in Hong Kong: "There is almost an unspoken campaign, as I see it, to challenge and defy authority at every turn in order to de-legitimise it.

'You, Chief Executive, has no moral authority. You were chosen by 400 people. Next time you will be chosen by 800 people. If you were chosen by four million, all those that are entitled to vote, then that will be different'."

Lee's press secretary Yeong Yoon Ying said in a letter received Dec 12 by AFP that Lee "did not say this to Mr Tung" but "was referring to the opposition claim that the chief executive has no moral authority, because he was chosen by 400 people."

Lee, the former prime minister of Singapore, is a friend of Tung. Tung, who has been constantly hounded by pro-democracy activists, has so far refused to confirm whether he will seek a second five-year term in 2002.

The decision on the next chief executive is expected to be made by an 800-member election committee modelled on the one which selected Tung to take over from Britain's last governor, Chris Patten, in 1997.

That committee was ostensibly made up of independently-appointed nominees from different community groups in Hong Kong but in practice was dominated by Beijing loyalists.