1987-07-09 09:23
COMMS. OFFICE (GOV'T HSE)
852 5 845 0995 P.06
to Hong Kong of maintaining good relations with other
territories,)
I accept, of course, the point mode by
several Members that propaganda can be mounted
through a variety of channels including books and
newspapers and I recognise that the censorship of
films is dealt with differently under the low.
But,
I do believe that the people of Hong Kong expect
different standards to be applied to the censorship
of films than is applied to other media. The Impact
of films is more immediate and more vivid and because
they are shown to large audiences gathered together
in one place, the reactions that can be provoked by
them can be quite dramatic. The received wisdom is
that youngsters can sometimes react even more
strongly, What seems to be clear from all the many
surveys that have been undertaken in this field is
that the standards the censors have applied in the
past have been broadly acceptable to the majority of
Hong Kong's people.
'The thin end of the wedge' argument has
been mounted by some members today, That is, that if
we allow present arrangements to continue, we have
somehow tacitly accepted that similor arrangements
can be applied to other media in the future. I find
this argument difficult to follow. The fact is that
L
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