secretaries working from the Defence Branch; and in that form it was still in being at the end of the year.
176. On 16th May the Colonial Secretary instituted twice weekly meetings with the heads of all Government departments to keep them informed of the course of events, of possible future trends and of the action that was being taken by the Government. These meetings were supplemented by written situation reports issued to departments. In November the incidence of these meetings was reduced to once a month.
177. A publicity committee was also set up on 16th May to co- ordinate the Government publicity programme, to track down and refute rumours and to keep the public informed of the Government's actions and intentions. This committee at first met daily and in August con- tinued its meetings on a twice weekly basis.
178. A committee was also set up to co-ordinate public relations overseas. The reports published overseas on the events in Hong Kong were on the whole fair and accurate but there were some instances of exaggeration or misinformation which were potentially harmful to the Colony. The committee received considerable assistance from the Information Services Department, the Trade Development Council, the Tourist Association and the Hong Kong Federation of Industries, both in Hong Kong and overseas, in presenting a more balanced picture.
179. An Emergency Food Control Committee, with the Defence Secretary as Chairman, was set up on 14th June to be responsible for the maintenance of an adequate supply of food to the population and to consider measures that would be necessary in the event of a food shortage.
180. Other committees were set up whose membership included, as well as Government servants, members of the Executive and Legislative Councils and leading industrialists and businessmen in the Colony to advise on various problems as they arose. It is not possible in this report to give the full details of their activities, but they met frequently, often at unusual and inconvenient hours, and their work was of the greatest value to the administration.
181. Confrontation has led to a series of actions which, while not classifiable as offences in normal times, constituted a threat to the stability of the Colony in the special circumstances prevailing. It was also found that the law relating to other offences was insufficiently
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