FOREIGN Secretary Malcolm Rifkind seems set to depart for Beijing today in a refreshingly realistic frame of mind. Gone are the days when Britain offered false hope it could stop China dismantling the Legislative Council in 1997.
Mr Rifkind will strongly reiterate the folly of such a move during his meetings with mainland leaders. But answering questions from legislators yesterday, he was honest enough to admit London had no 'physical power' to stop this from happening.
That may sound like a statement of the obvious. Yet too often in the past, Hong Kong has had to endure the double-talk of visiting ministers, who made promises which could not be kept. Contrasted with that, Mr Rifkind's frankness is welcome.
His reference to the 'very difficult circumstances' in which Britain must deal with Beijing was a tacit acknowledgement of how London no longer has any cards left to play. In discussing the possibility of post-1997 human rights abuses, he ventured into an area no minister had previously been prepared to discuss.
Such frankness should entitle Mr Rifkind to rather more respect than any of his predecessors ever enjoyed, even if some of what he had to say was extremely unpalatable. In particular, his refusal to offer any hope on visa-free access for Special Administrative Region passport holders is a sign Britain is beginning to back away from the idea. If this happens, London will have betrayed Hong Kong people on nationality issues once again.
The only time Mr Rifkind's grasp of the realistic seemed in doubt was in insisting Beijing is undecided whether to support the Preliminary Working Committee's proposed emasculation of the Bill of Rights. Yet the Foreign Secretary, apparently relying on confidential diplomatic communications, was unequivocal in asserting 'the Chinese Government has not reached a conclusion' on this.