Ready for Peking

Sir David Akers-Jones, the former chief secretary and acting governor of Hong Kong's colonial government, said he would accept an invitation to advise Peking on the colony's transition to Chinese sovereignty, AFP reports from Hong Kong. 'The appointment hasn't been officially announced yet,' Sir David, who shares China's opposition to the electoral reform plan of the Governor, Chris Patten, said in a telephone interview. 'But what I can say is that, if there is an official announcement, I would accept the appointment.' Sir David would be the first British Hong Kong expatriate to join an elite group assembled by Peking last year to advise it on the run-up to 1997.