NKKC13 NICKIBIS HKIOR
ХХ
Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
London, S.W. 1.,
n T
our
Mr Dingfiddy
in
15 November, 1974.
then P/A
Mr Elsayam,
(to pee
FED
6.4.2.
18/11
the changes to the
draft orjermally cleared
with you).
Thank you for your letter of 4 November to the Foreign
and Commonwealth Secretary.
The PA
As I indicated in my letter of 16 September, we were grateful to receive a copy of your booklet "Hong Kong: A Case to Answer".
This provides a clear exposition of one point of view on the situation in the Colony of Hong Kong;
and you may rest assured that your contribution on the Colony's present and future has been studied and will be taken into account in our continuing review of policy.
18/11
Nevertheless, while we respect the dedication of the book- let's researchers, I am bound to say that we find the presentation of the results of their research over-selective;
and some
assertions for which there can be no basis of knowledge are presented as if they were researched facts. A glaring example of this is the untrue statement in the notes that the name of Tsoi Kwok-cheong was picked out of a hat for execution.
Moreover in considering Hong Kong there are two central facts which must never be forgotten. The first is that the overwhelmingly Chinese population are there because they want to be. This applies even to the poorest. Nearly 45% of Hong Kong's urban population are themselves immigrants who entered the Colony of their own free will. It is not enough to dismiss these people, as your authors do, as "assorted members of the proletariat, lumpen proletariat and parasitic sectors". Nor is this drive to enter Hong Kong a thing of the past. As you will know, immigration, both legal and illegal, totalled more than 50,000 last year. But even this figure, though it strains Hong Kong's social services and housing, is only the tip of the iceberg of those who would go there if they could. The second is that the Chinese Government have not indicated that they are other than content with the status quo.
Christopher Farley, Esq.,
Spokesman Books,
Bertrand Russell House,
Gamble Street,
Nottingham.
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