1780
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'79 nine years' ry child up to ior secondary de places for ear age group will remove of the educa- g, that child- heir primary ave been left no secondary because they in industrial 14.
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1781
Hong Kong
18 DECEMBER 1974
The employment of children under 14 in industry has long been a problem and last November a large-scale programme began to provide every child under 14 with an identity card complete with photograph. When that is complete, I hope we shall be able to say that that is one social problem of Hong Kong that has been solved.
Two key pieces of legislation have been enacted this year: first protection of workers against acts of anti-union dis- crimination; secondly, severance pay for workers who become redundant or are discharged through no fault of their own. The average industrial daily wage of about £2 a day in Hong Kong compares, for example, with 200 million people in India with a monthly wage of less than £2. But Hong Kong has also had its inflationary problems. The retail price index increased by 15 per cent. in the year ending June 1974, and with wages. relatively static there has been a decline in real wages. Employment, however, has continued at a high level, although there has been some decline in employment over the past 12 months-a reduction of about 28,600 jobs in industry.
There has also been interest in Hong Kong's adherence to ILO Conventions. As at 1st June 1974, 20 conventions had been declared fully applied to Hong Kong and 10 had been declared applied with some modification. For purposes of comparison with ILO Member States in the area, 31 conventions had been ratified by Japan, 18 by the Philippines, eight by Malaysia, eight by Indonesia, and 21 by Singapore.
As has been said, crime is a major factor in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong
1782
Mr. Ennals: That matter is under con- sideration. There is no doubt that it would be of advantage to Hong Kong if it had a Legislative Council which was more representative of various social groupings in the colony, though there are considerable difficulties about constitu- tional changes for reasons which I think my hon. Friend, as well as hon. Members opposite, will recognise.
Mr. James Lamond (Oldham, East): My right hon. Friend has given an im- pressive recital of achievements in Hong Kong, many of which I saw when I visited the area last summer. I join hon. Members opposite in their admiration of what has been achieved. What worries me is the narrowly-drawn membership of the Legislative Council. Will my right hon. Friend try to find time in his reply to say something about any ideas he has to encourage broadening the membership of the Legislative Council to include, perhaps, some people from the lower levels of working life in Hong Kong?
Vol. 883
When my hon. Friend intervened I was about to say a few words about the crime problem. The 1,500 mutual aid commit- tees set up by the Hong Kong Govern- ment are an important element in fighting the wave of violent crime but they are not a substitute for an effective police force. Progress has also been made in the reorganisation of the police force. I am glad that the hon. Member for How- den referred to that.
Although the death penalty still exists under Hong Kong law, no sentence of death has been carried out since 1966. There is no doubt that public opinion in Hong Kong still strongly favours the im- plementation of the death penalty in extreme cases. This is a difficult problem which we are examining with the Gov- ernor. The Member for Bromsgrove and Redditch (Mr. Miller), in an intervention, mentioned that immigration from China into Hong Kong has increased considerably in recent years. Estimated figures for both legal and illegal immi- gration were 74,000 in 1973, compared with 37,000 in 1972 and less than 13,500 in 1971. The Chinese Government have since taken some steps to reduce the num- ber of legal immigrants entering Hong Kong, but the overall figures are still a . matter for concern.
The arrangements for the return of illegal immigrants to China are gener- ally a revival of procedures which fell into abeyance in 1967. The absence of their application has in recent years led to substantial increases in illegal entry. Estimates are 10,500 in 1971, 17,000 in 1972 and 18,000 in 1973. These numbers
greatly added to the Hong Kong Govern- ment's task of improving social conditions in the Colony. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that all cases are considered on an individual basis before any action to return is taken. Full account is taken of any special circumstances or cases of genuine hardship.
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