•
Mr Cortazzi
PS/Lord Goron-Roberts
CONFIDENTIAL
ORIG. ON HRK 307/5+8/1
Mr. Stewart
Mr Milten HUD
6B
I haubarked der. David to
Вторме
22/
20%
a draft fellow, ui courullation with the OLA, on the
question & finer-for you to send to the
Gaveler on 31 Dec.
Dr. Millon
HONG KONG: GRANADA TV PROGRAMME "WORLD IN ACTION"
1. The Granada TV series "World in Action" broadcast a programme. on child labour in Hong Kong on 13 December. It was entitled "Made in Hong Kong" and concentrated, seasonably enough, on the toy industry. The department has delayed submitting on this matter until first reactions to the programme were available.
Nature of the Programme
-
hollow was
detz Laut. Here harkeen woreply
As few.
Dim
25/1.
2. The general consensus among the members of the department who watched the film was that while it set out to be highly critical of Hong Kong alleged toleration of illegal child labour by the Government, inadequate fines imposed by the courts for child labour offences, failure to enforce safety measures
and to pay proper compensation for industrial injuries etc - it was not as damaging as advance information about the programme had suggested. In a number of instances the film lacked credibility.
Thus, for example, pictures of employees arriving for work at a factory were taken at long-range since, the viewer was told, the
cameramen were not allowed near because of "tight security".
The faces of some of those interviewed were blacked out because
identification could have led to "fear of reprisals". It was
asserted that cameras had to be concealed in factories in order
to obtain pictures of children, that children at work were hidden
in places where they would not be found by visiting labour inspectors, and that warning systems were installed in factories to give notice of impending visits by inspectors. None of these
assertions were substantiated. In fact, the programme produced
little evidence of child labour in industrial establishments:
there were two scenes only of children at work in factories. It was not stated that the children in question were below the age of. 14, the legal limit for employment in industrial establishments. On the other hand, there were a number of pictures