AS China's Hongkong affairs advisers return to the territory bearing messages of h China affairs adviser Sir David Akers-Jones has called on Beijing to get on with talks in the Joint Liaison Group and the Land Commission and, for the sake of civil service morale, not to let the political issue get in the way of other matters. The key to whether these advisers are doing Hongkong a service or merely showing Beijing what good friends they are now and what loyal citizens they are likely to prove after 1997, lies in the effectiveness with which they can put their points across.

Those who merely urge China to follow its existing and public line no doubt reflect a valid current of opinion which shows that China is not without its supporters in Hongkong. They also prove the point that the territory is not the hotbed of dangerous sedition some of Beijing's more nervous leaders imagine. Beyond that, however, they are vulnerable to accusations that they bring little that is original or constructive to their role and do little real good for the people of Hongkong, whose interests theyshould also be serving.