United front, or divide and rule?

It is ironic that the person officiating last week at the exhibition in Hong Kong of a Buddhist relic - purported to be a finger of Siddhartha Gautama - should not be a religious leader but a senior member of the Communist Party, that is to say, an atheist.

Interestingly, Liu Yandong, the head of the United Front Work Department, performed her duties in Hong Kong in her party capacity. In the past, top party officials, such as then president Jiang Zemin and Premier Wen Jiabao, visited Hong Kong in their governmental capacities. It now seems that Chinese officials feel it is appropriate for mainland party leaders to function openly in Hong Kong, even though the Basic Law is silent on the role of the party.

Since communist officials consider themselves experts in capitalism and do not hesitate to tell Hong Kong what it must do to remain capitalistic, it is perhaps not so surprising that the atheistic Ms Liu found it entirely proper to dispense advice to religious leaders in Hong Kong on how to work together in harmony with their mainland counterparts.

Beijing's purpose in transporting the relic to Hong Kong was the same as two years ago, when the finger bone was taken to Taiwan, where it was kept for more than a month; to enhance nationalistic feelings.

The Chinese government's motivation was made clear by Ms Liu when she said: 'I am sure all of you will be proud to be Chinese after you see [the relic]. The quick approval of the central government in allowing this exhibition of Buddha's finger bone shows its sincere love for Hong Kong people.'

Mao Zedong used to say that the party should make the past serve the present, and foreign things serve China. Now, his successors are simply following in his footsteps by making religion serve secular purposes.

Ms Liu called for a closer relationship between religious groups in Hong Kong and those on the mainland, based on the principles of mutual respect and non-interference. Since religious groups on the mainland are all under party control, a closer relationship may well result in bringing local groups under party control as well.