HONG KONG: It looks like a real political campaign. The front-runner quits his job to stump full time. He sets up a campaign office. Newspapers fill their front pages with headlines about major figures endorsing him.

But scratch away the thin veneer of electioneering, and the event looks like a political charade disguising the fact that there’s no real contest. Everyone expects Donald Tsang to win the July 10 three-way race, because he’s widely believed to have the blessing of Hong Kong’s real ruler: Beijing.

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