DARTING out of the back room reserved for legislators, Hong Kong's Washington representative and former civil service chief Barrie Wiggham insisted he had not flown over for a spot of lobbying on behalf of Mr Patten.
''The legislators want to know about Washington and the United States,'' Mr Wiggham said, entering the chamber minutes before Lam Kui-chun claimed Mr Patten had tried unfairly to pressure legislators to support his proposals.
''That's what they seem to want to know about and that's all I'm talking to them about. And I'm simply here to get myself up to speed with the latest developments.'' ''I had to come over to Hong Kong anyway, but I made sure I was here for this. I was known as Mr 1997 [during 1984 Sino-British negotiations], so it's good to be here for such an occasion.''
