they billed us for only part of the amount and we said
1
and they said
H
we owe you more;
sorry, we forget that.
QUESTION: Is it automatically
renewed, this
contract?
SIR DAVID TRENCH: It runs for five years in the
first instance, of which I think this is the second year.
QUESTION:, Sir David, there appears to be a new
development in that a strike is due in support of the
transport workers and that the food importers appear to be
Border joining the strikers, food reaching Hong Kong Harbour.
SIR DAVID TRENCH: There has been of course
food interruption from Shanghai and to a lesser extent
I think of fruit and vegetables, and the distribution and
sale of the food has been to some extent affected by
withdrawals of labour in the transport field and by
intimidation of the distributors and sellers. There is
no evidence of co-ordination in this because there is no
evidence that food supplies from China are being
deliberately withheld. In fact the stuff is piling up
at the border. The compatriots in Hong Kong are letting
it rot at the border so there appears to be some misunder-
standing there. The difficulty has really arisen from the
transport workers who refuse to handle the stuff arriving
at the frontier.
F
QUESTION: What do you think, Sir David, is
the real object of these five demands made on the
15th May, and repeated?
1
9-