CONFIDENTIAL
Chinese regard their continued detention as a major
irritant in Sino-British relations. The Chinese
Charge d'Affaires in London mentioned them in the course
of a courtesy call on the Secretary of State on 5 August.
Communist Press 17. The CPG are especially sensitive about the attitude
of the Hong Kong Government towards the local communist
press which not infrequently publishes subversive material.
The last occasion on which the Government took action
Communist Schools
to curb the press was immediately followed by the sacking
of our Mission in Peking (in August, 1967).
18. Communist schools have an aggregate enrolment of some
29,000 pupils which represents 2.4% of the total school
enrolment in the Colony. However, they have a captive
clientele in the families of active communist supporters,
communist trade union members and employees of communist
concerns; such schools provide for a high level of political
indoctrination and are not easy to control. On the other
hand the low standard of education that they provide
serves to restrict their appeal in non-communist circles.
IMMIGRATION CONTROL AND REFUGEES
19. More than a million immigrants and refugees have
entered Hong Kong from China since 1950. Because other
countries have refused to accept Chinese immigrants and
because the refugees now constitute a substantial proportion
of the population of the Colony, the Hong Kong Government
has been obliged to follow a policy of integrating them
into the community.
8.
CONFIDENTIAL