the
TOR. BRAY.] In this House we should recognise that the integrity and efficiency of Administration in Hong Kong is seen to contribute greatly to the well-being of the people of Hong Kong. That is not to say, of course, that there is no urgent need to continue reform and advance.
Looking to the future, if we can build up a sufficient mutual interest between Peking and ourselves in the continuing prosperity of Hong Kong, then, when the time comes at the end of the century, I can see no reason why the lease of the New Territories should not be renewed, with the courtesy of a host providing a guestroom for an honoured guest who brings long life and happiness.
We have, then, a dual task. We have to build up a viable economy in Hong Kong which will not depend on the capital inflow continuing for ever, and we have also to build up mutual interest between Peking and ourselves in maintaining and increasing the prosperity of Hong Kong. This debate occurs at a time when the Chinese Vice-Minister for Trade, Mr. Lou, is on a visit to London. I am sure that we all hope that his visit has been worth while and that it will lead to growth of trade and good relations between his country and ours.
China is today looking for practical technological "know-how", for experi- ence in modern industry, for plant and machinery for advanced engineering products for the manufacture of ferti- lisers, chemicals, steel, and so on. is precisely the kind of industry which This Hong Kong lacks, partly because of its shortage of land and water, but mainly because of a lack of a large domestic market for products with high transport
costs.
If such industry were placed in Hong Kong, China would hardly wish to find the foreign exchange to buy its pro- ducts, so that would not help. On the other hand, such industry could be built up by China under her own control and ownership on her own territory, next to Hong Kong and complementary to Hong Kong's industry. A modern ferti- liser, oil, petrochemical and steel com- plex needs access to deep water berths for 100.000 ton tankers and ore carriers which couell be built round Hong Kong.
No less important than access for bulk materials is nearness of supporting in-
nong Kong
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dustry, trade, and commerce, air com- munications and know-how. these can be found in Hong Kong, where All of most major British firms are already well represented and where development could proceed rapidly and efficiently. With Canton the centre of communica- tions in South China, with ample crude oil supplies available in the world, with the rich iron ore deposits in Hainan, the river estuary between Canton and Hong Kong is the natural site for this type of heavy industrial development in South China.
Payment would
China, naturally, would wish to shape such development to meet her own need to build up agriculture and the infra- structure of industrialisation. would be more an industrial develop- So it ment exercise than merely an fashioned spot sale.
old- need to be arranged so that it was made out of, for example, the increased food production which would be achieved by the use of fertiliser from new fertiliser plants. China would, therefore, ask for credits. The British Government in London could easily raise loans in Hong Kong to finance such credits, provided that they carried London, for which, in turn, London a guarantee from would obtain a guarantee from Peking. An arrangement on these lines could well provide an export trade from this country of £30 or £40 million a year for many years.
Such a development scheme would give Hong Kong the solid base which it needs. By industrialising and raising the standard of living in China, it would also avoid the sharp economic differ- ences between the two sides of the bor- der which can make it humanly and, give both China and ourselves a major therefore, politically unstable. It would interest in the continued prosperity of Hong Kong.
This may seem to many a daring scheme, but I ask the House to consider whether anything less is possible. seems to me to be in line with the most It constructive efforts of British foreign policy in the past. It is, of course, a matter for us in Westminster, and we should not expect--we obviously cannot expect-the Hong Kong Government to take the initiatives involved. Certainly, everything will depend on the reaction of people in Hong Kong and of Peking, and, in turn, their reaction will depend
11 APRIL 1963
1.56 p.m.
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Hong Kong
on their judgment of the British attitude. To them I would merely say that, for what my judgment as a back bencher is worth, the British Government would consider some development on these lines with interest.
Any such development would, of course, have international repercussions. I am sure that everyone in the House will be thinking of India to which we owe our especial loyalty as a free and democratic member of the Common- wealth whose own development is our dearest wish. Development of relations such as those I have described with China through Hong Kong would not be possible if China and India were engaged in a border war. I have this
to
week called upon the Indian High Com- missioner to tell him that this proposal which I am making, far from being unfriendly to India, is intended cement the foundations of peace. I think this is understood. No one understands more clearly than our friends and col- leagues in New Delhi that a necessary foundation for peace is the end of poverty and hunger and the development of the economy in China as in India itself. We have supported many projects such as this in India, and I earnestly hope that we shall support many greater projects. This proposal in relation to China and Hong Kong is therefore in no sense competitive with India, a country which has an even greater stake in the peace of South-East Asia than we have.
To sum up, I would ask whether we see Hong Kong like the string of crackers with which our Chinese friends so delight to welcome us, flashing and banging and then leaving the deepened stillness of a tropical night; or whether we see Hong Kong like a seed which will grow into a tree which the children and the children's children of all those millions in China and in Hong Kong will see, and seeing, give thanks for the labour, the wisdom and the piety of their
ancestors.
Hong Kong
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Mr. Anthony Royle (Richmond, Surrey) I congratulate the hon. Mem- ber for Middlesbrough, West (Dr. Bray) upon initiating this debate. All of us who are interested in Hong Kong wel- come the chance to talk about the Colony at Westminster. I have visited Hong Kong twice during the past year, and have just returned from there.
I do not expect the Government to reply today to the points which I have made, but I would ask them to consider what they should do and to listen to the reaction and responses of our friends in the East; and then to respond with vigour.
While, naturally, all of us on both sides of the House were very interested in the hon. Member's thoughtful sugges tions about the Colony's future, I feel that much of what he put forward is not practical at this moment. I believe that the more appropriate way to strengthen Hong Kong is to strengthen her trade position, that is, by strengthening_her ties with and her markets in South-East Asia and other parts of the world. While it is right that we should all give careful thought to such problems as the hon. Member put forward with such care. I feel that there are other matters that we ought to discuss today.
The first thing that struck me when I heard that there was to be this debate was the vital necessity for the future of Hong Kong that the confidence of businessmen and other countries in Hong Kong should continue. When I returned from Hong Kong at the end of January I was wholeheartedly impressed with the drive and dynamism which exists there. It has a population of 31⁄2 million people, increasing at a rate at the moment of nearly 250,000 per year. Some of this is natural increase and some is the result of illegal immigration, with which I shall deal later, if there is time. It is, there- fore, vital for Hong Kong that it should expand to keep pace with the population increase.
This expansion can be done and is being done through the drive and vigour of the Chinese community and the help that it gets from our excellent administration in the Colony.
During a short visit to Red China, to Canton, I saw the industrial situation- I do not know whether the hon. Member has recently done so-in Kwantung Pro- vince, of the Chinese People's Republic. This is another reason which leads me to believe that now is not the moment to put forward economic suggestions for building industry in the way the hon. Member suggested. I do not believe that it could have practical acceptance from Peking at this moment.