HONG KONG, Jun 7 (AP) -- The front-runner's campaign in Hong Kong's leadership race has been a mix of Chinese and Western flair, with quotes from Mao Zedong and Winston Churchill sprinkled in speeches and Chinese calligraphy used as the campaign logo.

Donald Tsang held court recently at his first campaign news conference before a podium decorated with the Chinese character for "Tsang" in green -- with three of the strokes replaced by Tsang's trademark bow tie in blue.

Tsang is trying to win the favor of an 800-member committee that selects Hong Kong's leaders. He's widely believed to be a shoo-in because the panel is dominated by Beijing loyalists and China's leadership has already sent many signals that it prefers Tsang.

With the vote a month away, Tsang recently spoke against an impressive blue backdrop featuring Hong Kong's skyline.

Giving separate speeches in Chinese and English, Tsang quoted Churchill and used lofty rhetoric commonly found in U.S. campaign stump speeches.

Tsang borrowed former British leader Churchill's remark, "Give us the tools and we will finish the job" _ an appeal to the United States in 1941 to help Britain fight Nazi Germany. He said the words captured his state of mind, except the tools he needed were not weapons, but the support of Hong Kong people.

Declaring his mission, Tsang said, "I must be strong on behalf of the weak. I must raise my voice on behalf of the silent majority."

Tsang, flanked by two transparent TelePrompTer panels, was unusually animated, raising his hands and lifting a finger for emphasis, setting off a flurry of flashbulbs from the press corps with his gesturing.

Tsang said he had lived the "Hong Kong dream," having risen from a drug salesman to the No. 2 position in Hong Kong's government. The obvious parallel is the "American dream" -- the belief that any American can achieve success regardless of background because of a level playing field.

In a second speech, Tsang quoted a poem by Chinese communist leader Mao that encouraged Hong Kong people to overcome difficulties: "Don't rush to think that treacherous passes are as tough as iron. Now we can start over with firm strides."

Mao wrote the line during the Chinese Communist Party's legendary 1934-35 Long March into northwestern China to escape their rival Nationalists.

Tsang has two public relations professionals on staff: one from the U.S. firm GolinHarris and one from the British company Citigate Dewe Rogerson.

But Tsang spokesman Harold Yau says speechwriting is a team effort, with Tsang at the helm.

The mixed cultural influences are a reflection of Hong Kong's -- and Tsang's -- heritage. A longtime British colony, Hong Kong only returned to Chinese rule eight years ago in 1997. Chinese and English are both official languages here.

Tsang worked in the British colonial administration -- and was knighted for his service -- but stayed on after the change in sovereignty.

The Mao quote is perhaps also an attempt by Tsang to prove his loyalty to Beijing. Some local Beijing allies are believed to be skeptical of Tsang's loyalties because of his service to the British, but analysts say China is impressed by Tsang's accomplishments as a government bureaucrat.