IF Barrie Wiggham becomes Hongkong's top envoy in the United States this September, he is likely to receive most, if not all, ambassadorial privileges.
Administration and Congressional officials see no reason why Mr Wiggham would not gain access to Washington's senior policy-makers or be excluded from the A-lists on the cocktail circuit.
''If he is Hongkong's most senior representative, then that's how he will be treated,'' said one Congressional staff member.
''Congressmen won't ask if he has ambassadorial rank or not.'' There will, however, have to be limits to Mr Wiggham's orbit as Hongkong's de facto ambassador in the Clinton era, as he will not, of course, have the right to deal with foreign policy or defence issues.
Unlike ambassadors, Mr Wiggham will remain limited to trade and economic advice unless he was specifically invited by the British ambassador in Washington to negotiate on behalf of Hongkong.
At the height of the Vietnamese Boat People migration to Hongkong in the late 80s, such a process was adopted when the United States opposed Hongkong's forced repatriation of asylum-seekers.
Hongkong's current representative in Washington, Mr Peter Lo, was, at that time, invited by the British Embassy to explain Hongkong's refugee policy to Congressmen and other officials.