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Press Review No 286 87-27/6-
58-27/6-2/2/24.
The Governor'a Press Conferénca
Answers given by the Governor, Sir Murray MacLehose at his press conférences pn June 28, following his visit to Britain, led to 13 editorials in the Chinese
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The following topics were discussed:
I. .Death Penalty
-9 JUL 1974
HICK 14/
This topic alone attracted eleven editorials. Most of the papers were disappointed that the British Government should retain its objections to the enforcement of the death penalty here in Hong Kong.
"This is a most disappointing piece of news the Governor has brought back," Wah Kiu Man Po 30.6.74) said.
"This is obviously another failure of the Hong Kong Government's endeavours to influence the views of the British authorities on this matter," New Life Evening Post (29.6.74) observed.
Some papers felt that Hong Kong should not necessarily be subject to the views of the British Government.
"Most people think that Hong Kong should not follow Britain in this matter because the social conditions and the patterns of living are different in the two places. Hong Kong needs a method of her own to maintain its social order New Life Evening Post (29.6.74) pointed out.
This view was endorsed by Hong Kong Times, Wah Kiu Yat Po, Fai Po and Sing Tao Jih Pao.
"It would not only be impractical but it would also cause great trouble and uneasiness if at all times we tried to apply British policies on Hong Kong," Hong Kong Times (30.6.74) warned.
Fai Po (30.6.74) also stressed that the enforcement of the death penalty is Hong Kong's own "special problem", so Hong Kong should have the right to deal with it in its own way.
Wah Kiu Yat Po (29.6.74), Sing Tao Jih Pao (1.7.74) and Kung Shoung Evening News (1.7.74) emphasized that the death penalty should be enforced in Hong Kong because legally this form of punishment has never been abolished.
"If the members of the British Parliament think that the death penalty should no longer cxist, they must then remove this clause from the laws of Hong Kong," Sing Tao Jih Pao said. "Otherwise, people will be baffled by the situation because the law exists but is not allowed to be enforced," the paper added.
It asked the British MPs on whose "public opinion" they based their objections to the death penalty in Hong Kong.
"If it is only the view of the British people, how can they force it upon the people of Hong Kong?" it asked.
The paper warned British officials of the dangerous consequences in making the Hong Kong people feel so disappointed with the British Government on this matter.
Kung Sheung Evening News (1.7.74) said, "It is no longer a question of whether the death penalty should be enforced in Hong Kong but whether the law of Hong Kong is being respected by Britain."
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