Reporter's diary: Blair's tour

BBC political correspondent Guto Harri, accompanying the prime minister on his diplomatic trip to Washington and the Far East, is filing a diary for BBC News Online.

Shanghai :: 1030 BST 22 July

I've only been here two hours and I feel a miserable failure - my entire time has been spent on the roof of the business hotel in the sweltering heat, humidity and dust, trying to assemble a satellite phone.

Pleased as punch to have actually tracked down a satellite, locked onto it and got the line up, you can imagine my humiliation and fury at having the battery for the whole unit die on me on the spot.

Onwards now to Hong Kong, with a special plea to the wonderful staff of our chartered aircraft on behalf of my splendid colleague on the plane, the Daily Mirror's political editor, James Hardy, who is a fish eating vegetarian - now were are about to embark on the sixth part of the tour can we please have a fish option that isn't salmon!

Tony and Cherie Blair are sitting up front - no doubt having a lot of fun together on this whirlwind tour. Not only have the slept on a traditional Japanese straw mattress but Cherie Blair has now managed declare her love to her husband by singing a song in front of 100 students in Beijing. Her choice - The Beatles' "When I'm Sixty-Four".

"When I get older, losing my hair, many years from now, Will you still be sending me a valentine, birthday greetings, bottle of wine..."

Was she seeking reassurance? If so she got it in front of the same audience.

"My wife is smarter than me," said Tony Blair, but with one caveat. "Sometimes I read what she is supposed to earn - I just wish it was true."

Beijing :: 1945 BST 21 July

A big debate is raging among my newspaper colleagues.

The Financial Times hackette with supposedly inside knowledge managed to take the entire crew to her favourite Beijing restaurant. Tired and emotional colleagues have generally been positive but one journalist was outraged.

It was a sewer of a restaurant in a shanty town, he told me.

Our hotel, however, is splendid. The doorman amazingly achieved what BBC announcers take 10 years to overcome - the pronunciation of my name.

We are assured this is Quentin Tarantino's favourite home from home in the world.

Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien, nursing a pint of lager at the bar, is delighted to hear this "edgy" connection.

No sign here at the hotel of Tony Blair but I did catch up with him at lunchtime.

He met the press for a brief rendezvous at the residence of the former president but it used to be an "entertainment" venue for emperors. A shrewd Downing Street aide suggested the camera pointed the other way at part of the beautiful rock and water garden.

Tony Blair took one look at the sight when he emerged, pointed at the aide, before suggesting that he was "too much in touch with his feminine side".

Finally, the pot calling kettle black award for this trip goes to the Mail on Sunday's John Oliver who suggested in the Tarantino bar that ITN's political editor needed to think about his press conference etiquette.

Nick Robinson is not exactly popular with the South Korean authorities as Sunday's diary will explain, but as his newspaper colleagues had been pointing out this evening, John Oliver's the man who stood up at a press conference in Tokyo, called on Tony Blair to resign and suggested that the prime minister had "blood on his hands".

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Beijing :: 0600 BST 21 July

Tony Blair has finally found a refuge from the mounting row over David Kelly.

All day in Beijing he will be tied up in talks, visits or ceremonies. There is absolutely no opportunity for interviews or a press conference.

A minor setback was swiftly overcome. Imagine the concern when a Downing Street aide triggered the metal detector on entering the Great Hall of the People in Tiananmen Square.

A female security guard stepped forward wielding a frightening-looking gadget in her left hand, but having lifted the back of his jacket and observed his backside she let him through with a smile.

Needless to say this rising star of the Foreign Office was delighted.

I'm also pleased to say that all went well with the formal ceremonies. In the absence of the protocol observers from Downing Street, it was left to this journalist to confirm that the Union Jack was properly flown in Tiananmen Square.

It looked fine to me but I hadn't realised the subtle differences between the top and bottom of the flag.

To my relief, a senior aide later confirmed that the flag was indeed appropriately raised.

For your information the white stripe on the bottom end of the flag is wider than that which should be on the top end.

No such luck avoiding a diplomatic incident in South Korea. I'm afraid the authorities in Seoul are yet to forgive ITN's political editor Nick Robinson for gross discourtesy to their president.

His crime? Asking Tony Blair a question about UK politics and then when invited to ask anything of President Roh, declining the offer as if nothing he said could be of any interest.

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Seoul :: 1330 BST 20 July

Tony Blair looked a lot happier in Korea than he was leaving Japan. And all day, the prime minister has been far more relaxed than he was yesterday (Saturday).

At a joint open air press conference with the South Korean President, Tony Blair had an open necked shirt and no tie.

Perhaps that helped. More likely it was the advice from his host, President Roh, on how to avoid impertinent or undesirable questions.

When asked the question he did not particularly want to field, President Roh said: "When you are playing soccer, you don't talk about baseball. And when you are playing baseball, you don't talk about soccer."

Tony Blair laughed, and immediately put the advice into action by warning this BBC journalist not to ask him about EITHER of the sports.

However, the visit was not entirely without hitch. An impromptu visit to a cathedral church in Seoul by Tony Blair and his wife Cherie surprisingly saw him greeted by three protesters carrying a banner with a picture of Dr David Kelly and the words "Who killed David Kelly ?"

I almost missed all the action. I was accredited, I was carrying a press pass, I had arrived on the tour bus, yet when I tried to enter the compound where the press conference was to be taking place, the Korean security service were adamant that I was not to be let in.

Neither my English nor my Welsh managed to connect with their Korean - but in the end, by a combination of sign language and ultimate resignation, we finally established that a little gift handed out at the airport was a vital part of the accreditation regime.

It was a union jack buttonhole - one which I decided not to wear. My colleague Laura Trevelyan did not have hers - and was not let in.

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Hakone, near Tokyo :: 1345 BST 19 July

If he looked stressed on television and sounded faint on your speaker - believe me, in the flesh, Tony Blair looks like a shattered man.

The half hour press conference held in the spa resort of Hakone, was one through which he seemed to struggle every second.

Big speakers in the room amplified the deep sighs at the end of every Blair statement. One eye was visibly moist - and journalists present wondered whether he could handle any more questions without breaking down, or openly crying.

Those around him cannot disguise, either, the very difficult time for the Prime Minister. Despite being accompanied by his wife Cherie, he must be feeling even more vulnerable since his Director of Communications and most trusted lieutenant, Alastair Campbell , is not only now a target for the press - but he is not here beside the Prime Minister to offer his advice on the most difficult of times.

It is now 48 hours since we left London and some of my newspaper colleagues are wondering if they are wasting their time. Tony Blair's second press conference was as frustrating as the first - just two questions allowed from the British media and those two predictable inquiries agreed beforehand with two broadcasters.

Amid the genuine sadness at the death of David Kelly and the fevered speculation about the fallout for the government, handing out a joint statement on "The universal application of information communication technology" (being critical in bringing about increased global prosperity in the 21st century) might not have been the most newsworthy of headlines.

Aggrieved print journalists vowed to avenge the government, however, for not taking their questions. As one of them put it: "They'll now get 14 pages in my paper telling them how bad they are."

Another decided to stand up on the spot and accuse Tony Blair of having "blood on his hands, " then calling on him to resign.

Still, every cloud does have a silver lining. The Japanese Prime Minister revealed at the end of the press conference that he had sorted out a traditional Japanese straw mattress for Tony Blair in the hope that he actually gets a good night's sleep.

It will be the first time the Prime Minister and his wife Cherie Blair have slept on a tatami, no doubt preceded by a meal of sushi.

Some of us following the Prime Minister wonder whether he would be happier with toast, Marmite and a glass of milk.

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Tokyo :: 2030 BST 18 July

Fourteen hours is a long time in politics. When we boarded the prime minister's plane in Washington, Tony Blair was glowing with pride, his speech to Congress an immensely satisfying occasion for him and his aides.

When we touched down in Tokyo he looked shattered. Somewhere vaguely skirting the Pacific, he'd woken up to find that Dr David Kelly, an adviser in the MoD, had gone missing.

Once feared dead, the sad personal tragedy and the dire potential consequences for the government were all too apparent.

They needed a thoughtful response. We were literally about to land by the time he'd worked out what to say, and it wasn't Tony Blair but his official spokesman who came back to tell us.

Thirty-five journalists were strapped in by their seatbelts, listening to the undercarriage open as we dropped below 4,000 feet towards Tokyo. Forget questions, there was barely time before the bump on the runway.

Stunned journalists have been since been mulling it over in the hotel bar, too troubled to sleep and suffering from the inevitable physical confusion when you haven't been to a proper bed for more than 30 hours.

Tony Blair can expect some irate as well as difficult questions when he finally faces the press later on.

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Mid air Washington - Tokyo :: 0100 BST 18 July

Only 14 hours to go, how depressing a thought when you climb onto a plane even if the prime minister is on board and the house wine is Chablis Premier Cru.

Will I still like my colleagues by the time we get to Tokyo? None of them has washed since leaving London and it was very hot on the White House lawn.

Tony Blair is no doubt dreaming about the US constitution being changed so citizens from other countries can stand for the presidency.

Democratic nomination is open at the moment and judging by the gushing responses to his speech in Congress, he'd walk it.

Yet during his speech we saw the first sign that Mr Blair is starting to worry about how history will judge him.

Early on in his address to Congress he revealed a recent conversation with his son Nicky who has been studying 18th Century American history.

Mr Blair told us his son had urged him to think of think of Lord North.

"He lost America," as Nicky Blair put it. "No matter how many mistakes you make, dad, you'll never make one that big."

Has it really come to that?

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Mid air London - Washington :: 2000 BST 17 July

The last time Tony Blair flew to Washington, the plane was hit by lightning.

From my window seat overlooking the left wing it was terrifying, a loud bang and a flash, though ultimately of course, harmless.

This trip is already far more terrifying - two of the press gallery ladies who lunch are trying to organise a "Lobby Idol" for the next leg of the trip in the Far East.

Interesting that 35 journalists cannot go to Tokyo, Beijing and Hong Kong without indulging in one of the popular local challenges - karaoke.

Having done an excruciatingly bad rendition of Robbie Williams' Angels on a recent stag do, I'm already dreading it.

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Believe it or not, there's a class divide on these trips too. I felt it most acutely when the blue curtain came across and the panel filled the gap in the makeshift wall between economy and business class.

I could not help noticing Nick Robinson, political editor of ITN who this time last year was a BBC man, sitting comfortably in business class.

Leaving the BBC might have been painful in many respects but ITV certainly has its perks.

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Despite the ongoing and bitter row between Downing Street and the BBC I could not help noticing with some satisfaction that on this specially chartered Boeing 777 the first item of in-flight entertainment was a BBC news bulletin rather than any competitor.