My Take | Both top contenders in the chief executive race are cut from the same cloth

John Tsang Chun-wah made much of his popularity in opinion polls and social media during his first televised debate with his two chief executive election rivals.

In truth, all but one major surveys have found him ahead of Beijing’s reported favourite, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor.

He shouldn’t let it go to his head, though, even if he wins the race over Lam. A victory for Tsang is unlikely of course, but not impossible. But just as pan-democrats have put him on a pedestal today, they would round on him the minute he wins. Their support for him is but a ploy: If he wins, they can claim victory over Beijing. If he loses, they will say that’s typical of Beijing to defy the wishes of Hong Kong people. If the central government had preferred Tsang, the situation would have been reversed and Lam would have had the pan-dems’ votes.

Pan-democrats, of course, know that Tsang is not, and will never be, one of them. He is as likely to side with them and defy the central government as Lam or outgoing chief executive Leung Chun-ying, who has been rewarded by being made a state leader. As chief executive, Tsang might even be more subservient knowing he wasn’t Beijing’s choice and would need to prove his loyalty.