CHINESE President Jiang Zemin chose as the venue for his meeting with Mr Hurd a pavilion where the Empress Dowager Cixi held the Guangxu emperor prisoner in the final days of the Qing Dynasty.
''Good morning,'' Mr Jiang boomed in English, greeting Mr Hurd at the Yingtai Villa in the usually secret confines of Zhongnanhai.
''I think you've been here before,'' he added, perhaps missing the double meaning of his words.
The President was referring to previous trips by Mr Hurd to China, including two in 1991, during which a memorandum of understanding on Hongkong's airport was agreed. The memorandum failed to stop Sino-British bickering over the massive project.
''Welcome, welcome, I think we are old friends,'' said Mr Jiang. ''I heard you had good talks with Foreign Minister Qian Qichen, and I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to meet with you.'' Seated in an ornately carved chair next to Mr Jiang, Mr Hurd agreed his talks with Mr Qian on foreign affairs had been ''good'' while those on Hongkong had been ''useful''.
Mr Hurd's meeting with the Chinese President had not been scheduled as of Thursday night. The fact that it took place seemed to suggest the Foreign Secretary had made an impression on his Chinese hosts.
Mr Hurd, with a tight schedule permitting little time for sight-seeing, got an unexpected windfall in Mr Jiang's choice of the Yingtai.