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Question:
[24 FEBRUARY 1981 ]
Thina's free zone in the Far East, we control an important gateway to China. We have every reason to be proud of our stewardship. There is no doubt that China intends to use to the fullest advantage the facilities and expertise which are available in Hong Kong. Perhaps the most spectacular of the 1979 events were the financial arrangements that were made for a three-cornered deal involving Great Britain, Hong Kong and China. Under its terms, the British will sell mining equipment to China. The Chinese will mine coal which they will then sell to the China Light and Power Company. The coal will be used to power a new facilitity, purchased from British suppliers, that China Light is building at a cost of 1-8 billion Hong Kong dollars to generate electricity. This is only one of many schemes.
Is it generally realised that we sell more to Hong Kong than we do to India and other countries in the Far East, with the exception of Japan. That has a population of 100 million people, and yet we sell to Hong Kong two-thirds the volume of what we sell to Japan. That is no small beer. We have good friends in Hong Kong, Anglophiles in Hong Kong, who are keeping skilled craftsmen going in this country, and preserving the know-how which has been top in this country and which has produced employment for many years. I am referring to the electricity generating industry. It it were not for the orders which we now have from Hong Kong, there would be 2,000 men out of work who are, at the moment, doing a wonderful job with their own craft.
It is the easiest thing in the world to criticise and it is sometimes a good thing that criticism is focused on injustice and on government which borders on tyranny. Hong Kong was devastated and looted almost to the point of extinction, when the war finished. It still plays the traditonal role of providing refuge for hundreds of thousands of refugees. When all the countries in the Pacific area said No to Vietnam refugees, who said Yes? Hong Kong saddled, as it was with scores of thousands from the mainland, took 50,000. I sometimes think that it would have been a good relief to Hong Kong if a thousand or two of those refugees could have been landed in Jersey---that haven of the taxpayer, not the refugee. Hong Kong's record is one of continual progress. The accommodation that has been provided in Hong Kong is phenomenal. There is not another place in the world that can touch it, for either the speed at which people work or the way in which they do it. So it goes on.
A Royal Commission would take several years to come to conclusions. There is already much anxiety in Hong Kong about the length of leases, and whether it is possible to be effective and economic-I ask your Lordships to weigh my words carefully--before 1997. So anything which would cause the Chinese to delay making their position clear bout their policy towards Hong Kong would be detrimental and, in my opinion, dangerous to our interests in the Far East. We have going there a momentum of good will and friendliness which the Chinese will honour.
8.7 p.m.
Viscount Hanworth: My Lords, I apologise for intervening without having put my name down, but what I have to say will not take very long. I was
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stationed in Hong Kong for two years and I still have connections with it. That is the reason why, having listened to the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, I feel I must postpone my journey home.
One of the important and worthwhile traditions of this House is the moderation of noble Lord's speeches, as well as not castigating other speakers, but I am afraid that on this occasion I shall push very near the borders of what I think this House should accept. Frankly, and with all due respect to the noble Lord who asked this Question, I must say that, in my view, his speech was far from helpful or useful. Whatever one's views, one must admire the idealist approach of the noble Lord, Lord Brockway. Personally, how- ever, I find idealists who have no regard to the hard facts of life, and the imperfections of human nature, very hard to live with. I am concerned with the quality of life and, in view of the extraordinary circumstances in Hong Kong, I should think that a benevolent auto- cracy was the best answer. I believe that, unfortunately, the same could well apply to other developing countries and I suggest to the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, that he might look at some of them and decide how far his brand of democracy is likely to work to the benefit of the citizens, which is what really matters.
I think that I have said enough on that point. But just sitting here, with Western spectacles, is not satis- factory. I think it would behove the noble Lord, Lord Brockway, to go out to Hong Kong before he starts to make the kind of speech which he has made this evening. What really makes me surprised is that he talks about accommodation problems there. The population has increased and increased. The Hong Kong Government have made immense efforts on rehousing, but the flood over the border swamped it all. The shanty towns have been removed time and again, but what happens? They fill up again. So you have to look at this, not through the eyes of people in this country, not through the eyes of people who complain, but through the eyes of those who see what is practical in that very well run colony.
Finally, as regards the question of the future I can very well understand the wish of Hong Kong to have a firm future but I think it should be pointed out that throughout Hong Kong's history, until perhaps a few years ago, there has been the threat of China walking in at any time. Militarily they could do so. There never has been a garrison which was sufficient to deter even a two division attack on Hong Kong. But China had not even got to do that. All they had to do was to push a lot of people over the border; the situation would then become intolerable. So for many years the people in Hong Kong have lived with complete uncertainty.
The future is something which we could well leave to our diplomats, with all the goodwill that we now have with China. I think it is the greatest mistake that Lord Brockway has again taken up this issue. Despite all the adiniration for some of his idealist approaches, I suggest that he could well leave Hong Kong alone, or else go out there and see for himself.
8.12 p.m.
Lord Trefgarne: My Lords, Hong Kong is frequently described as unique. It has been said tonight, and so