The Hongkong Telegraph
HONGKONG, FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 1902. NOTES AND COMMENTS.
A Good Sign. Yesterday's function at Government House, when an address was presented to His Excellency the Governor by the Chinese Community, will, we hope, mark a certain turning point in the history of the Colony, a point at which it would have been better for us if we had arrived years ago. The presentation of the address and the speech of Dr. Ho Kai show very plainly that the Chinese Community have at last come to appreciate the fact that it is not the intention or object of the Government, to oppress the Chinese at all, but that it wishes to work hand in hand with them for the benefit of the Chinese, the Europeans and the general prosperity of the Colony. On too many occasions we have seen friction between the two races. The Europeans, represented by the Government, wanted one thing and the Chinese wanted another. Not perhaps that the Chinese were in any very active opposition, but simply because the proposed measure interfered with them, or they thought that it would be likely to do so. This state of affairs was brought about to a great extent by want of knowledge on the part of the Chinese themselves. Neither party understood the other and the result was friction.
Latterly, however, since Sir Henry Blake has been at the head of affairs, the Chinese and the Government have been more in touch one with the other. Sir Henry has grasped the fact that opposition is more often than not the result of ignorance and, by striving to thoroughly understand the Chinese, to obtain their views on different subjects, and by respecting their prejudices to as great an extent as possible, he has done much to break down the barrier of race. What is so often lost sight of is the fact that the Chinese represent as large, if not larger interests in the Colony than the Europeans, and hence they are entitled to a certain amount of consideration. It will be much better for all concerned if the Chinese can be brought to look at matters as we do, and this can only be brought about by a thorough understanding and a regard for class and race prejudices.
In this the Chinese will have to make as many concessions as we do. You cannot take a Chinaman and make a European of him by a stroke of the pen any more than you can turn a European into a Chinaman, but you can, if you go about matters in the right way, convince the Chinaman that European methods are, in some cases best, and this is what is wanted here.
That these old animosities are dying out is evidenced by the manner in which the Chinese are cheerfully submitting to the general cleansing of the City now in progress. As His Excellency pointed out, the families are bearing all the inevitable discomforts with a cheerful fortitude that could not be exceeded by any community in the world. Instead of obstructing matters, as has often been the case formerly, they are actively assisting in the work, and simply because their prejudices have been respected to some extent, a few slight concessions made, and the discomforts of the cleansing made as small as possible. Anybody who has had to deal with the ruling of an alien race will fully appreciate the advantage of this state of affairs. With even a passive resistance upon the part of the Chinese, the whole of this great work would have been rendered impossible, but as matters now stand all goes as merry as a marriage bell.
We have heard His Excellency severely criticised at times by people who say that he gives way too much to the Chinese, but we think that he is right in hearing both sides of every question. He recognises the fact, as he pointed out yesterday, that we live in a free country and every man is entitled to think his own thoughts and speak his own mind, and to guide his own actions without interference, so long as those actions do not prevent the exercise of a similar freedom by others. This is where the great stumbling block has always been. We have been too prone to think, as Kipling puts it, "That East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet," and so long as we approach matters in that spirit we can never hope to succeed in living comfortably and without friction in Hongkong. A better understanding will smooth the way for the removal of racial prejudices, and we trust that yesterday's function points to this becoming, in the near future, an accomplished fact. A mutual understanding will remove all difficulties.