HKK 302/,
CONFIDENTIAL
Enter (future)
British Embassy
PEKING
181
27. July 1981
PJ Williamson Esq HKK 040/
HK & GD
FCO
MILE
Dear Patrick
ملل
1981
$19.8
Mr.W
son नर
С
LIAOWANG ARTICLES ON HONG KONG
Please refer to earlier correspondence on this subject which rests with Iain Orr's letter of 9 June to you.
1.
2.
We have today received our copy of Liaowang number 4. It does not contain an article in the "Hong Kong Today" series, and so it appears that the series has now finished. Nor did we manage to get hold of a copy of Liaowang no. 2. Thus, apart from the first article (reported in my teleletter of 15 May), we have only seen one other "Hong Kong Today" article, in Liaowang no 3. It was entitled "Juvenile crime and Hong Kong culture"
3.
The article begins with statistics illustrating an alarming increase in juvenile crime in Hong Kong, especially among school children. It recalls the incident on 2 May when two schoolgirls jumped to their deaths from the top of a 26 storey building. This, claims the article, showed how serious was the "poison" of Hong Kong's "warped cultural influence" on young people.
4.
The article is critical of newspapers and magazines sold in Hong Kong, many of which it claims are unreadable - either full of nude pictures, articles about sex or violence, or tempting people to gamble. Many publications claiming to be for children are "contaminated" by such stuff. Television, radio, advertisements all show young people how to rape, cheat, fight, make money or womanise. The majority of films shown in Hong Kong are full of sex or violence. Even animated cartoons are often "not suitable for children". But in practice children can and do go to see such films.
5.
Since Hong Kong parents often work day and night to earn their living and have no time to look after their children, they must rely on schools to give children proper guidance. But Hong Kong's school system only puts pressure on children to "succeed". Those who cannot do well academically commit suicide, lose hope, seek short-term
Г
CONFIDENTIAL
/enjoyment