IT would be only two easy to dismiss the Liberal Party's manifesto, released yesterday, as a wishy-washy document, designed to be all things to all men. In fact there is more meat in the document than first meets the eye.
Finding the weaknesses is certainly the easy part. The party is against bad things like drugs and suicide, and in favour of good things like education, equal rights for women and, eventually, democracy.
It is difficult to disagree with such reasonableness, but equally difficult to get excited about it.
This is no radical agenda for reform by a group of people known for their readiness to fight for firmly held principles. Instead, it is a statement of acceptance that there is nothing to be achieved by arguing over the interpretation of the Basic Law.
The manifesto calls, for example, for ''a wholly democratic government, including a democratically elected Chief Executive'' - but only after 2007.
Since the Basic Law allows for the possibility of change in that year, provided two thirds of the National People's Congress agree, that ambition is at least not beyond the bounds of theoretical possibility.
