The beauty of Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, or Basic Law, is very much in the eyes of the beholder.

To members of the territory’s pro-democracy camp and their overseas sympathisers, it is an admirably liberal document, replete with protections for civil liberties, Hong Kong’s economic and financial system, and its way of life. Better still, Articles 45 and 68 affirm the “ultimate aim” of choosing the chief executive and all 60 members of Hong Kong’s legislature “by universal suffrage”.