HONG KONG: A CASE TO ANSWER
Introduction
Hong Kong is Britain's most important remaining colonial possession. Situated on the South coast of China, it has a population of about 44 million, 98 per cent of whom are Chinese, crammed into an area of only 400 square miles. With over 40 per cent of the active population engaged in manufacturing, the Colony ranks among the world's top 20 trading "nations".
In an age of general decolonization, Hong Kong stands out as a bastion of 19th century colonialism. Formally, it is ruled by a Governor, appointed by London. Informally, it is ruled by a small group of businessmen and bankers in alliance with the colonial administration. The colonial régime is not elective. The population
In Hong Kong there are:
80,000 triad gang members (1973 official estimate)
25,000 prostitutes (1973 unofficial estimate)
300,000 heroin addicts (1973 unofficial estimate)
If there were no overlap, this would be 10% of the total population (of which 46% is aged 1-19).
In Hong Kong:
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Violent crime rose by 135% over the 4 years 1968-72 (murder, man- slaughter, armed robbery, assault)
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Suicides rose by 90% in the 5 years 1969-74 to a rate of 17 per 100,000 (3rd highest in the world)
In the New Territories, there is one doctor for every 20,000 persons; in 1973 there were only 238 hospital beds (including private beds) for ordinary patients in the New Territories (population in the 1971 census: 665,700).
There is the worst hard drug problem in the world; and five times as many addicts proportionately as in Macau, a Portuguese colony with similar population, in the late 1960s.