2 -
and terrori BIN.
Cur expectation and hope is
that more reasonable and civilisod canons of
bohaviour will from now on provall and that
people, in the words of the Foreign Coorstary,
"may settle down again to thei: normal pursuits,
which is what the vast majority of them want",
indicating that industrial output has not been affected.
2
(*) Doss the Minister see any serious fallin off
of investment in lleng Kong due to vieta and
civil disturbance”.
Clearly events of the nature that have been
occurring in Hong Kong are bound to have some effect
on the economy. Initially thero was, quite
naturally, aose nervousness among businessmen,
tourists, those who had money in the banks, It
does not take much to make "hot" money move, as we
know in London. Withdrawal of deposits from the
banks was at a fairly high rate in May and Juno
but by August had almost ceased and since then
there have been clear indications that money is
flowing back into the banks.
I think that if we tum to the trade figures
over these months we get a very fair reflection of
the state of economy. Exporta have continued to
rise month after month by 16% – 17% over last year
performance, The import figures have admittedly
dipped, but this has been very largely due to the
fall in deliveries from China, particularly of
foodstuffs
Trade with China has boon affected by
Fransport internal difficulties in that country and by claim's The local communists that the port was paralysed deliberate, somewhat half-hearted and unsuccessful.
by strikes.
attempts to restrict China's trade with Hong Kong as
part of a campaign to represent å± as a strike-bound
port paralyood by rietse-
/All the