BEARING in mind that Labour Party politicians meeting at their south London HQ for protracted discussions on matters of state regularly send round the corner for Chinese take-away meals, it is hardly surprising that the offer of lavish banquets in Beijinghas had them doing an about-face of heroic proportions.

Before China's ambassador in London, Mr Ma Yuzhen, started hanging around the corridors of Westminster showing them the tempting menu, the comrades were openly supportive of Governor Chris Patten's political reform package.

But now Labour's shadow foreign secretary, Jack Cunningham, and Hongkong spokesman Allan Rogers (both partial to a bit of Peking duck, it seems) are said to be on the verge of changing their minds. News of the inevitable trip to China will no doubt come soon.