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Hong
[Lord Brockway.]
[LORDS]
The unhappiness of Hong Kong goes further than this. It is absolutely unique in the British Colonial system for its absence of democratic rights. There is no Legislature, and therefore no vote for it. There is only an urban council. Those who vote for it are limited to one in ten of the adult population. The scope of the urban council, in the words of The Times of February 1975, is:
whose duties and responsibilities are concentrated largely on garbage collection, tree planting, hawkers' licences, and restriction on spitting."
That is the extent of democracy in our largest colony.
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In Hong Kong there is no free com- sory education; there is no free medical service open to all; there are no unen- ployment benefits; there are no old age or widows' pensions; there is no paid maternity leave; there is no maternity allowance; there is no minimum wage; there is no limitation of the hours of work for males over 18. Legal and illegal child labour are rife, as indicated only last January in the report of the Christian
• Industrial Committee. There is in Hong Kong the worst heroin traflic in the whole world. It also has the third worst suicide rate.
In contrast to this, it is often pointed out how much the Administration has done in the housing sphere and the en- couragement that has been given to trade unions. I will only say on housing that when areas with small huts are demol- ished and blocks of buildings are created, those blocks' are constructed on one-third of the land previously occupied by the huts and two-thirds of the area is leased to private companies. One welcomes the encouragement that has been given to trade unions, but they are still terribly restricted. For example, по casual labourer in Hong Kong-the number of such workers is very large-is allowed to join a trade union,
One asks why there is this terribly un- happy state of affairs in our largest remaining colony. If there had not been special circumstances, Hong Kong would have advanced to political independence in the wave of liberation which occurred after the war. The British occupation of Hong Kong began in a way of which we must all be ashamed; it was annexed after the infamous opium war of 1829
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when the Chinese Government sought to stamp out opium smuggling, which was a major source of British profit. We declared war and Hong Kong was made an opium base. I sometimes think that wrong beginnings determine future injustice.
In addition to the Island of Hong Kong, Kowloon was seized in 1860 and a large mainland new territory leased from China for 99 years in 1898. China has refused to accept these unequal treaties but we now have a strange situation. China found British occupation an advantage-- for trade in the world, for foreign earn- ings and as a centre of financial institu- tions-but the situation is changing. China has become a major exporter of oil and, because of the financial advan- tages of that, China is no longer depen- dent on Hong Kong. Our occupation has been valuable for Britain in terms of the profits of its companies, in the contribu- tion it has made to our balance of pay- ments and in terms of the military outpost there. However, the lease for the main- land ends in 21 years and without the mainland territory Hong Kong itself would not be valid. Its ultimate return to China has become inevitable.
I urge that, meanwhile, we must accept responsibility for the 4 million Chinese in Hong Kong. The Commission Against Corruption is not enough. The whole Administration must be overhauled, the courts brought into relation with the people, we must establish social services, minimum living wages, maximum hours and make Hong Kong a place where its millions have the opportunity to live a human life. This will be a very big task but it need not be expensive for Britain. Business in Hong Kong is extraordinarily profitable. The incomes of the élite there are the highest in Asia except for the Sheikhs in the Middle East. Hong Kong's wealth has just been indicated by the new defence agreement; this year it will pay this country 50 per cent. of the cost of the British garrison, next year 621 per cent. and, thereafter, 75 per cent. There is plenty of money in Hong Kong,
The necessary planning will require technical experience beyond the present Administration. I urge the Government to gather a team of skilled civil servants and others under a chairman who is both realistic and imaginative; a Commission
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