Shortly after the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr Qian Qichen, mentioned at a press conference on Thursday that Beijing intended to sign a UN human rights treaty, a political officer in the US embassy in Beijing began telephoning American reporters to make sure they did not miss the significance of the move.
This unusual prompting of correspondents was followed by an exceptionally quick response from the US State Department in Washington, which hailed China's promise to sign the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as a major advance.
To observers of US-China relations, the US response pointed inescapably to one thing - Washington saw the commitment as a way out of censuring China's human rights record at next month's meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights, something which could have jeopardised President Clinton's planned trip to China in June.
The Chinese side might also have been engaged in news manipulation. The question which gave Mr Qian an opportunity to make his announcement was posed by the official Xinhua news agency, a traditional device to give a Chinese leader a platform.
The sigh of relief from the White House was palpable. The US has co-sponsored motions criticising China at the UN Commission every year since Tiananmen Square in 1989. This year it has been in a quandary over what to do as the EU nations, which usually take the lead, have opted out, citing a renewed dialogue. The US Senate voted 95 to 5 on Thursday that Washington should continue to censure Beijing on the grounds that little had changed in China. President Clinton can now make a new argument for not taking action this year.
The covenant would guarantee the right of peaceful assembly and freedom of speech and religion, rights already enshrined in the Chinese constitution but closely circumscribed. Signing it could have far-reaching implications for future political freedoms but a signatory country can attach qualifications.
Once China ratifies the covenant, it will have to report on its rights practices within one year and then every five years thereafter. Mr Qian gave no date for the signing but it could coincide with Mr Clinton's visit, which both the US and China are keen should go ahead.
The US State Department spokesman, Mr James Rubin, said the Chinese announcement would have a "significant impact" on whether Washington would sponsor a resolution.
"Clearly, this is a step forward," he said. "It will provide a way for the world to shine the spotlight on human rights abuses in China. That's why this convention is so important and that's why this development is so significant."
He said Mr Clinton had made the signing of the covenant a priority during a summit with the Chinese President, Mr Jiang Zemin, last October. Mr Clinton said he was changing his planned trip to China to late June instead of November to build on the momentum of improving US-China relations.
Fourteen Hong Kong schools yesterday won the right to hold lessons in English after an appeals committee overturned a directive ordering them to teach in Chinese.
The schools won appeals against a government order making Chinese the main language in all schools when the new academic year begins in September.
Some parents in Hong Kong believe that their children stand a better chance of lucrative careers with international companies if they are schooled in English rather than their native Cantonese dialect.