Senior Communist Party leader Madame Liu Yandong conducted herself with dignity and propriety at she officiated at a ceremony in honor of the Buddha's birthday in Hong Kong on Wednesday. Dressed in a modest but stylish black skirt and jacket, and taking her cues from the monks alongside her, she bowed her head in front of the gold-encased Buddhist relics and stood with hands in prayerful pose while the monks chanted.
Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa accompanied her, less graceful but no doubt more sincere. He is said to be a practicing Buddhist, although he has been known to perform the Confucian ceremonies with equal earnestness on the revered Chinese sage's birthday.
However Madame Liu, the 59-year-old director of the Communist Party's United Front Work Department, is officially an atheist, like all members in good standing of her party.
It therefore must have irked some of the more devout believers in attendance to watch her take a prominent role in what should have been a genuine religious event. Only the apparent authenticity of the elderly, saffron-robed monks beside her lent her enough credibility to get through the morning.
Liu relaxed a bit as she left the hall, nodding and smiling at the crowd. She had a busy day ahead of her--a meeting with pro-Beijing political leaders, visits to a home for the elderly and a school, and in the evening, a dinner for Hong Kong's prominent religious leaders.
Liu's visit to Hong Kong is part of a two-pronged strategy the central government has adopted to deal with the unruly populace, who are polarized over Beijing's decision last month to block direct elections of their leaders. Liu is part of a charm offensive, sent to win friends, build alliances, and neutralize enemies in the time-tested communist "united front" style.
Religious believers are on the list to be neutralized, as far as possible. So Liu has brought with her the director-general of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, Ye Xiaowen, an expert in that task.
Hong Kong's religious leaders have been united in their opposition to Beijing's religious persecution, which includes harsh treatment of the outlawed Falun Gong sect, whose members have been arrested, jailed, tortured and even killed.
Most religious leaders opposed the Article 23 national security legislation that Beijing wanted enacted last year, as it would have banned in Hong Kong any organization that is illegal on the mainland. That could include all mainstream religions as well as such sects as the Falun Gong.
The most outspoken critic of Beijing has been Catholic Bishop Joseph Zen, who has publicly supported pro-democracy rallies. A program to neutralize the bishop began with an invitation to visit his hometown of Shanghai in April, lifting a six-year ban on his entry to the mainland. Zen accepted the trip, met with religious and political leaders in Shanghai, and returned saying he appreciated the friendship and sincerity he had been shown.
Zen was among those invited to dinner with Liu Wednesday evening. So was Buddhist Association President Sik Kok Kwong, but he was won over to Beijing's camp six years ago when the government agreed to make Buddha's birthday a public holiday in Hong Kong. Beijing flattered him further by allowing him to bring to the city from China a precious relic said to be the Buddha's finger bone, which was the centerpiece of Wednesday's ceremony and will be on public display here for 10 days.
In return, Sik Kok Kwong has said Buddhists should stay out of politics, and asked the public not to participate in street demonstrations, as they disturb social harmony.
Beijing has worse headaches than the religious leaders in Hong Kong, however. The central government's immediate goal is to prevent pro-democracy parties from winning a majority in the September Legislative Council elections. It would also like to prevent a mass anti-government demonstration on July 1, the anniversary of last year's half-a-million person march, but that may be impossible.
Fanning the flames of discontent are the democrats and the local media. During her five-day stay, Liu will meet with some of the more moderate democrats, though not the leaders of the Democratic Party, and she will even meet the media on her final day.
But the charm offensive is just one side of a two-pronged strategy. The other approach is a campaign of intimidation that has caused three prominent radio talk show hosts to resign in the past month, and has even frightened ordinary citizens.
Outspoken commentator Albert Cheng, radio host for the popular talk show "Teacup in a Storm," quit the job and left town after receiving death threats. Cheng was known for his critical views toward the local and central governments. A week later Raymond Wong resigned from his talk show on Commercial Radio. Wong said he had received both threats and offers of bribes from pro-Beijing businessmen to silence his criticism of the Chinese government.
Radio commentator Allen Lee quit his job as replacement for Cheng after just two weeks. Lee said that prominent local and mainland figures had approached him and, though he had not been pressured or threatened, he felt he could not freely speak his mind on air.
In addition, individuals have called radio talk shows to report receiving phone calls from mainland relatives and friends urging them to vote for pro-Beijing candidates in the September legislative elections. Some callers instructed them to take pictures of their ballots with their mobile phones, and said they feared the consequences if their Hong Kong relatives refused.
Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor director Law Yuk-kai told local security officials he had information linking such threats to Beijing's Ministry of State Security and local triad gangs, an unholy alliance of fearful proportions. He would not make details public, but Law is a respected figure unlikely to make such accusations lightly.
So beneath Madame Liu's velvet glove approach of cajoling Hong Kong to accept Beijing's rule, there lies the Party's much more coercive iron fist.
What is disturbing about all of this is that the Communist Party's political tactics are depressingly familiar, despite all the outward appearance of China's liberalization and reform.
Some in Hong Kong had envisaged this territory as becoming a model for building democracy with Chinese characteristics, perhaps not a replica of Western democracy, but a system of governance by elected, accountable officials. It now appears that Beijing has also seen the vision--and is determined to quash it.
Madame Liu must have been smiling to herself as she stood in front of the Buddha's finger, head bowed as if acknowledging a higher power. For her, the highest power is the Communist Party, and her ultimate purpose is to make sure that point gets across.