A.
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From Hong Kong's angle there is little we can usefully say about the Aid framework for 1969/70. The colony has submitted requests for Aid and will continue to do so, but while she is generally, and misleadingly, regarded as "relatively affluent" by Whitehall (and Victoria Street), she will continue to remain at the back of the Aid queue.
2.
A
It is easy to see how current impressions of Hong Kong have been formed, but it is often less easy to find facts to substantiate them. Industrialization has brought with it serious problems in housing, immigration, social welfare, communications, etc., within Hong Kong. The presence of active Communists within the Colony is also always a problem, and large masses of urbanized industrial workers present bigger and better opportunities for political agitators than do predominantly rural folk-craft communities.
3.
Given her present prosperity and relative wealth, there is a natural temptation to assume that Hong Kong will continue to prosper
However, for reasons outlined below, this adion is at
In her present state Hong Kong could keep the lid on many potential problems, but she must be prepared for these to eventually come to the surface, To this end she would be greatly aided by practical acasahne of British confidence in her future.
4. Since the early 1950s, the economic transformation of the Colony has been described, in somewhat extravagant
(and it) language, as an "economic miracle")
tassume that industrialization has been the parent panacea for all Hong Kong's problems. The economy of Hong Kong today. is the product of, lare circumstantial skill and good fortune, and is not based upon a firm economic foundation. To survive, Hong Kong has to export, yet even so her visible trade always shows a healthy imbalance in favour of imports which include virtually all her food and raw material requirements.
5. While Hong Kong was producing a number of shoddy manufactures she was a threat to no one,
the measure of
her post-war success is well indicated by the threat she is now seen to pose to medium and high-quality producers whether it be in textiles wigs, camerasør transistors, etc. The product of this success has been increasing restrictions against Hong Kong's world trade. Already this year the Swedes, Norwegians and Canadians have conducted further "voluntary" restraints negotiations with Hong Kong, and agreements exist already with other countries, including the U.S.A., in the "area of concentration". Developing countries, on the other hand, must concentrate on developing their indigenous industries, and have, therefore, to restat the encroachment of Hong Kong's trade. Constant and ever-increasing restrictions could well cause the boom in Hong Kong'to lose steam, consequent political, financial and economic difficulties.
6.
Hong Kong tends to be very touchy about her present
y.common impression seems to her to be that her success is" immoral" in British eyes. Cheap labour, free trade, etc., could easily be seen as the antithesis of the current British "dream". Nevertheless, this is to neglect the Government's very real progress in the fields of social reform, labour legislation, etc., and to deny Hong-Kong the reassurances she needs of British support. Hong Kong's prosperity also depends upon a low level of
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