SENATOR Craig Thomas thought he'd stumbled on a novel way of getting Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord to say what he really thought would happen in Hong Kong.
Could Mr Lord perhaps rate Hong Kong's political situation on a scale of one to 10? Sensing a trap wherein the usual diplomatic niceties could plunge to oblivion, the old Asia-hand said that choosing a number would be meaningless and give the wrong impression.
'But I would say the number is somewhere between one and 10,' he finally answered, to the general mirth of all in the Senate Dirksen Office building, room 419.
This little exchange, while not much more than a friendly sparring session, somehow summed up this week's hearing on the future of Hong Kong. The first congressional panel to examine the territory's dealings for as long as anyone could remember, it was suffused (in Hong Kong at least) with much hope, but ultimately had little chance of being anything but anti-climactic.
Reading between the lines of the administration's increasingly regular public comments about the 1997 issue, one would wager that privately, officials give the territory's current situation around five out of 10.
Issues such as the Court of Final Appeal, the threat to dismantle Legco and the possible erosion of press freedom are weighing on Mr Lord's mind, and making him wonder just how he and his colleagues can get involved to protect the interests of America's seventh largest trading buddy, where over 30,000 of its citizens live and do business.
US companies have been burned so many times in recent history on the mainland that the thought of its Citibanks and Bechtels having to operate in a corrupted, party-led Hong Kong is too awful to contemplate.
