AS Hongkong Governor Chris Patten begins two weeks of lobbying in the United States, the so-far inconclusive Sino-British talks on Hongkong's political development have been almost totally ignored by American media, and even China's Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status has been getting much less attention than expected.
The reason is not hard to find. President Bill Clinton's main foreign policy concern now is with the peace efforts in the Balkans. Hongkong and Britain's relations with China have slipped down the Clinton administration and American public's agenda.
Mr Patten's first task, then, will be to increase public and political awareness of Hongkong's concerns. In doing this, the Governor will be walking a diplomatic tightrope between telling the Americans the truth, and causing further undue irritation with China.
Mr Patten's most important platform on which to raise Hongkong's public profile will be at his lunchtime speech tomorrow at the National Press Club in Washington, which will be broadcast live on the national C-SPAN cable television, which devotes its time to political affairs.
The Governor's most important date in Congress will be his meeting with members of the Senate Finance Committee, and the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee. These are the two committees with jurisdiction over the China-MFN issue, and they will be the ones to hold hearings once President Clinton decides whether or not to extend MFN for another year.
While in the US Congress, Mr Patten will also meet members of the House International Affairs, and the Senate Foreign Relations committees - in particular members of their respective Asian subcommittees - who have a special interest in the future of Hongkong.