Muddy Waters

Not everything has gone wrong with Harbour Fest, a series of 15 government-funded rock concerts intended to trumpet to the world that Hong Kong is completely over the SARS outbreak of last spring. It has a handsome venue beneath incandescent skyscrapers and world-class acts such as Prince and Santana have played. The Rolling Stones are due this week.

But the festival has become a lightning rod for disgruntlement with the Hong Kong government. Taxpayers realize they're picking up the tab, and many feel that buying a ticket is like paying twice, so attendance has been poor.

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Last week this minor scandal got murkier when the government announced that it paid the entire $12.9 million festival budget to the local American Chamber of Commerce, a non-profit organization best known for luncheons and tax advice. Amcham gave the money to a company designated to run the festival, Red Canvas Ltd., which turned out to be owned by the chairman of the chamber, American moving-company founder Jim Thompson, and his wife. "That's a private firm, and we don't have the right to check its books," says Fred Li, a member of Hong Kong's Legislative Council, who has asked the territory's powerful Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate. Thompson denies any impropriety. "We had 90 days to put the damn show on," he says, promising to allow a full audit of the books. "There's absolutely zero to hide." Late last week the organizers took out ads to promote the finale concerts, which read: "Never mind the politics. It's the Rolling Stones." There's been a whole lot of head banging at Harbour Fest—a lot of it far from the stage.