I think sadly, very little. I think that certainly the party in power until possibly midnight tonight, has favoured commerce, has favoured trade. It's the sign of the times, and everyone's doing it. But they have had a very difficult time finding their point of intercession. What is their moment for speaking up for Hong Kong, or reaffirming the treaty, or asserting what rights they did retain for the oversight of the treaty? They've been very tepid on the subject.
I think you saw disharmony between members of Parliament who wanted a more robust response and the government, which did not. You saw something very unusual in London, which was the ambassador going after members of Parliament, and China's refusal to give visas to members of Parliament who wanted to do their own work or investigate the situation in Hong Kong.
These are not surprising responses. But there does not seem to be a will to find their moment. Where is the chance for the government, the Foreign Office, Parliament to find some common ground and stick to it?
My own government has done the same in the sense of truncating the policy, in the sense of congratulating China and Hong Kong on this move toward universal suffrage and being relatively silent on the elephant in the room, which is how delimiting the proposals are as they stand. You can't celebrate one part and be silent on another part.
Even if you're going to be judicious, even if you're going to be prudent, even if you're not going to be bombastic about it, you do have to find a solid set of proposals and espouse them.
Hugo Swire, the minister in charge, has said different things at different times. He has been inconsistent. He was much more robust a year ago than he has been recently. This is not healthy: at least find your ethical position, find your practical position, find your way forward, and then be consistent.
It's been hard for them to do.