མར་ བཙ་ན་
Sir Leslie Mons/14/7
1
Miss Deas
Mr Godden
with Cs
Reference.
The Garfie
in
K
LA
0.
1
HKK 18/28/0
1
49 !
II.
edn
INQUC
+
The attached Parliamentary Question by Lord Sorense is for oral reply on 15 July. A similar Question was asked by Lord-Sorensen in June, 1969 (the Hansard extrac is attached).
2.
The Question is starred and there can therefore be no debate on it. There will, however, be the usual opportunity for supplementary Questions.
3. Material for a reply has been given in Hong Kong telegram No. 458 and a draft reply is attached.
Political and Security Situation
4. There has been no organised violence in Hong Kong since the beginning of 1968. Minor sporadic incidents have occurred from time to time (particularly in the vicinity of the Hong Kong/China border) but apart from these the general situation in the Colony has remained quiet. The local Communist leadership have emphasised to their rank and file the long-term nature of their struggle and the need to adapt Communist attitudes to meet local conditions. The local Communists have kept up their criticism of the authorities using whatever means may have come to hand and there is every indicati that they will continue' indefinitely in their efforts to undermine the authority of the Government and to win public support for their cause.
Resettlement and low-cost housing
I
5. In 1963, Mr Sorensen (as he then was) asked a simil Question in the House of Commons on the subject of housing (the relevant Hansard extract is attached). is worth noting that although the number of persons re- housed by the Government and Government aided agencies has more than doubled (from approximately 750,000 to approximately 1,700,000) since that Question was asked, the estimated number of squatters today is only some 74,000 less than the 1963 figure. This situation is indicative of the size of the problem which has faced the Hong Kong Government in this sphere. It has been caused by continued immigration over the years, by a high birth rate which has, however, been falling steadil over the last decade (crude birth rate less crude death rate was 31 per thousand in 1960, compared with 15 per thousand in 1969), and by movement out of overcrowded pre-war tenements into modern accommodation. 1950, legal immigration has been controlled at the rate of 50 persons a day, but Hong Kong continues to attract more than its share of illegal immigrants, not only fro China and Macau, but also increasingly from other South East Asian countries.
Since
food
CONFIDENTIAL
/6.