tal
COMMENT
we to
៩.
The determination of the Government of Hong Kong to eradicate corruption in the Hong Kong Police recently resulted in considerable publicity for the conviction of a senior police officer on charges of corruption, Another ex- officer, who turned Queen's evidence at the trial, stated later in a television: documentary that he had made £2 million during his service in Hong Kong and
that a Chinese subordinate of his had made £4m. officers of the Hong Kong Police took bribes. gambling, drugs and vice including prostitution:
relevance to this report.
He also said that 95% of the
This corruption feeds on
it is therefore of fundamental
It is not suggested that Hong Kong is exceptional, or indeed unusual, in this respect and it is likely that similar conditions in South East Asia and Latin America will be the subject of future reports.
The reasons for the continuance and even growth of such conditions wherever they may occur and for the secrecy in which they thrive are in the case of the indigenous community habitual acceptance through fear, because experience has taught them that, despite the law, the administration cannot or will not protect those who expose corruption. The reasons, in the case of the
expatriate community, are the refusal of society to concern itself with the victims and the reluctance of government to legislate in such a way that an effective deterrent may be imposed.
JUNE 1975