IT is less than three weeks since a new optimism enveloped the talks between China and Britain on Hong Kong's political system.
Less than three weeks since Britain thought it had picked up Chinese hints that it might agree on the ''simple'' elements of reform.
Less than three weeks since Britain decided to speed up the talks by picking up China's suggestion of splitting discussion of the 1994 and 1995 electoral arrangements.
Less than three weeks since senior British officials spoke hopefully about the chances of agreement being greater than 50 per cent.
Now, two almost fruitless rounds of talks later, that dawn at the end of the long black night of dogged confrontation looks to have been false.
One issue on the minds of both sets of negotiators is how to blame the other side for the impasse. China insists it is willing to keep talking, so Britain must bear responsibility if the talks fail. China's willingness to continue would be more meaningful - and its position more credible - if there were some public evidence of its having helped the negotiations go forward, if it had accepted some British proposals or offered specific plans of its own.