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Hong Kong:
{7 MARCH 1979 ]
jump the queue, what does one do about it? Whether they are rich or whether they are poor, in the end the answer is that they are refugees and that they have children. I do not quarrel with anything that has been done. The spectacle of things which are done by force, by good sense and with my complete approval is naturally likely to excite perturbation among people who have suffered very considerably because of their living conditions. When people read justifiably glowing accounts of the many achievements in Hong Kong, they must wonder whether they are the victims, of discrimination.
I
We 'have heard a great deal about the housing programme. I have not seen it, but my information is that this excellent housing is being built on ground that is too costly to be used by the poorer inhabitants. Many other things are going on which are likely at least to exacerbate people's minds. The noble Lord, Lord Elton, said that if you are on a boat there is the advantage that you can step off it. There is, if you are awake and active at the time and know what is happening. I understand that the water there is so dirty and filthy that it is not easy for a boat to sink. What it does is to rot and fall to pieces. I understand that, as a perfectly proper safety precaution, inspectors go round month after month to examine these boats and see how long they will last. For all these years they have had no water or artificial light, and virtually no sanitation. And families are growing up on these boats.
I believe that it was the noble Lord, Lord Elton, who said that there are hous- ing problems in England. Indeed there are. There are problems in Oldham. Oldham has seen its major industry pass to Hong Kong. I spent the best part of 30 years pointing out the problems of the cotton industry in England and the com- petition which it had to face from Hong Kong because of the subsidies that were paid from time to time to Hong Kong. The fact that Oldham machines were being exported second-hand to Hong Kong and also to Shanghai-a great deal more to Shanghai, let us be frank about it-and refurbished there also affected our home industry. This island community -partly a mainland community, it is true with a somewhat uneasy tenure and with certain difficulties was at one time costing our national exchequer a very considerable sum of money.
Arrest of Petitioners
276
In the year of that debate, I was privi- leged to receive a handsome book on Hong Kong which recounted its achieve- ments. Frankly, I do not think that Texas could do it so well, or possibly so inexpensively. It may be that cheap labour helps. It is a remarkable book and a remarkable achievement; it is something of which they can be proud. The book is magnificently illustrated. It contains a picture of the Queen's visit and also a picture of the other Queen Elizabeth II departing from the harbour on another world tour. Illustrations are given of the immense advances which Hong Kong has made. It was the pioneer of the transistor industry, which brings it a little nearer to silicon chips. In a very fine harbour it has been carrying on a considerable amount of shipbuilding. It is also building-I call it hand-made to contrast it with the major form of ship- building-junks of considerable beauty, which are made with quite exceptional skill. If all that labour is being devoted to shipbuilding, it ought to be possible to provide houses on the riverside which contain adequate sanitation and so on. I suggest therefore that it is an unfortunate step to take, to say that you must not come to present a petition. I do not doubt for a moment that there have been faults on both sides in this matter. It is
possible to get like that after seven or eight years of privation, particularly if people are reading about the new race course and all the other amenities that are being constructed for Hong Kong.
One gets to the point of protest; one reaches the point when pent-up_indigna- tion gets out of control. That is one of the difficulties in our world today, where there is so much violence, so much crime and so much demonstration. It is a wise law which permits the maximum possi- bility of ventilation of grievance. All my noble friend said was that there was a calling of attention to some rather regret- table points in procedures. In these circumstances, one wonders whether there should have been a conviction at all. The noble Lord, Lord Elton, said-and I am not suggesting that he is wrong- that in effect there was no punishment, but of course a conviction is a punishment and binding over is a conviction. It is a finding of guilt, it can remain on the record all the time and if fingerprints were being taken that adds a little more point of regret to what transpired.
}