Uncharacteristically, Mr Tung failed to jump into line. While he offered up some token rhetoric - calling the Falun Gong an 'evil cult' - he has so far drawn a line against taking any action to curtail its activities in the SAR, and even refused to speed up the enactment of Article 23 anti-subversion laws.

Despite this, not only did last week's opening of the National People's Congress pass without the expected calls from mainland leaders for the sect to be outlawed in Hong Kong. There was even the remarkable sight of a spokesman for the accompanying Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) jumping to Mr Tung's defence when he came under fire for failing to act against the Falun Gong.

'Mr Tung's determination to protect 'one country, two systems' is in accordance with the interests of Hong Kong and the mainland,' retorted the spokesman after Xu Simin, one of the consultative body's members, bizarrely threatened to impeach the Chief Executive for being 'too weak' over the sect.

It is always a good sign when the ultra-hardline Mr Xu attacks something, because it forces others to come rushing to the defence and invariably seems to result in whatever he is criticising becoming safe from having action taken against it.

This is what happened at the CPPCC in 1998, when Mr Xu lashed out in similar fashion at Mr Tung's failure to crack down on Radio Television Hong Kong's criticism of official policies. That public outburst forced an at least temporary end to behind-the-scenes efforts to force the station to toe the government line, and three years later it continues to enjoy editorial independence.

Now history seems to be repeating itself with Mr Xu, in effect, being told to shut up after his Falun Gong outburst. And everyone, from President Jiang Zemin down, last week echoed Beijing's new-found line that the issue should be left to Mr Tung to handle.

While it may go against the grain to offer any praise, it has to be acknowledged that Mr Tung must have played some role in persuading China to back down over an issue that only a few weeks ago seemed in danger of seriously undermining Hong Kong's autonomy.

Perhaps all his - often laughable - patriotic rhetoric has finally paid off, in convincing Beijing that Mr Tung should be trusted over the Falun Gong: even though he refuses to take the tough action against the sect that the mainland leadership would much prefer.

Over the past three years Mr Tung has received much justified criticism for his determination to curry favour with Beijing, sometimes seemingly at the expense of Hong Kong's interests. But if China has really backed off over the Falun Gong's activities in the SAR, and Mr Tung's high standing in Zhongnanhai played a part in achieving this, then just for a change it shows that there are some advantages to having a leader who is so highly regarded by Beijing.

Danny Gittings is the Post's Editorial Pages Editor