Financial Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen might have been expected to take a vow of silence on the issue of a common currency for Asia, after all the trouble it has got him into recently. But not a bit of it. Instead Mr Tsang intends to continue pushing the idea, however unrealistic it may seem.
Perhaps he will be more careful what he says in future and not make the mistake of giving any more timetables.
That was what got him into such hot water in his interview with the Straits Times last week. Mr Tsang said it was time to 'think the unthinkable' and that he felt 'brave and courageous' in doing so.
He was even quoted as predicting that a link with Singapore could be put in place within 'five to seven years' as the first step to an Asia-wide currency.
The resulting headlines provoked brief alarm in government that these remarks might be seen by the financial markets as evidence of an imminent intention to abandon the peg.
A defensive statement lamely insisted Mr Tsang had been quoted out of context and was only talking about the long-term. But no attempt was made to deny that the Financial Secretary had advocated the adoption of a common currency.