Speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Club, Mr Tsang even hinted Mr Tung's earlier remarks might just be his boss's own view rather than the official stance of the whole government. But a government spokesman later denied this, insisting Mr Tsang had never specifically described the earlier remarks as Mr Tung's personal view.

Mr Tsang came into office dogged by charges that he was a 'yes man' not prepared to stand up to his boss in the same way as his predecessor, Anson Chan Fang On-sang, but his Falun Gong remarks have certainly put him back on the side of the angels. Their delivery in English to an audience of foreign correspondents seemed almost calculated to bolster the international image he cares so much about.

But it would be wrong to see last Thursday's remarks as the birth of a new 'conscience of Hong Kong', as his predecessor was sometimes called, prepared to speak up in defence of the SAR's autonomy as often as Mrs Chan did regardless of how much conflict it caused with Mr Tung.

This is an exceptional issue, as it touches on Mr Tsang's Catholic beliefs, with his church having its own definition of evil cults, which certainly does not include the Falun Gong. Coming so soon after he took up the post, it also provided a good chance to dispel any danger of a yes-man image.

But even as he did so over the evil cults last Thursday, Mr Tsang was also falling far more closely in step with his boss than Mrs Chan ever did over another issue of crucial importance to the future of the SAR's autonomy. In contrast to his predecessor's calls for the debate on democratic development to begin without delay, Mr Tsang said it should not do so until after next year's Chief Executive election at the earliest. And even that date seems unlikely, as he couched it only in tentative terms.

He also laid great stress on the need to ensure the SAR's 'economic strengths will not be undermined in any way', a phrase often used by opponents of democracy to argue against any increase in the number of directly elected seats.

Even if Mr Tsang does not yet fall firmly into this camp, he certainly seems to be moving in this direction. And that can only be music to the ears of the democracy-disliking Mr Tung, who until now, has had to put up with Mrs Chan's rather different views on the issue.

All the headlines over his 'evil cult' remarks should not disguise the fact that Mr Tsang is no Anson Chan MarkII. He has never claimed he would perform such a role, and it is unfair to expect him to do so.

Although he might be his own man on issues close to his heart, particularly those impacting on his religious beliefs, there are others where he will follow his boss' line much more closely than Mrs Chan ever did. And all the signs are that stalling on more democracy will fall into the latter of these two categories.

Danny Gittings is the Post's Editorial Pages Editor