CHINESE UNOFFICIAL MEMBERS OF COUNCILS
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Dr. Tso was noted as a very frank, honest and outspoken person. On 26th August 1936 when Mr. (later Sir) M. K. Lo proposed a motion in the Legislative Council that the censorship of the Chinese press should be abrogated, he opposed it by saying that, although he appreciated the principle of the freedom of the press within certain limits, he must ask that local conditions and the interest of the Colony, and in particular of the Chinese community, should be taken into consideration as of first importance. He argued that as there was so much unrest and uncertainty in the political atmosphere in the Far East as a result of Japanese aggression in China, it was very easy and quite natural for the Chinese papers to over-step their bounds by giving expressions to their feelings on matters Chinese. Such expressions, if undesirable and unchecked, might create misunderstandings outside and stir up trouble inside the Colony. He advocated that prevention was better than cure; for, if bad feeling or bad blood were stirred among the masses, especially among the less intelligent sections of the Chinese community, it would be most difficult to restrain or pacify. He felt therefore that Government should continue to censor the Chinese press, although the better controlled English press needed little, if any, censorship. Although Lo's motion was also opposed by other members and was lost, Dr. Tso's frank remarks led to fierce criticisms and even hostility against him by the Chinese press and the Chinese public. This was probably the cause of his resignation in 1937.
In 1931, when Sir Shouson Chow left the Legislative Council, he was succeeded by Mr. Chau Tsun-nin, now Sir Tsun-nin Chau. Sir Tsun-nin, born in 1893, is the seventh son of the late Chau Siu-ki who was acting Legislative Councillor in the years 1921, 1923 and 1924. Having received his early education at St. Stephen's Boys College, he completed his university studies at Oxford. He was then admitted to Middle Temple and became a barrister. In 1914 he returned to Hong Kong and, after practising as a barrister for a few months, turned to business. He was appointed a J.P. in 1923 and a member of the Sanitary Board in 1929. He was a member of the Legislative Council from 1931 to 1939, and was awarded the C.B.E. in 1938. After the war he was appointed to the Executive Council and was created a knight bachelor in 1956. He retired in 1959.
When Robert Kotewall retired from the Legislative Council