Secretariat file No. 1170/47S
SAVINGRAM
RECEIVED
10 MPR 143
To
the Secretary of State for the Colonies.
C. O. REGY
From the Governor, Hong Kong.
Date 2nd April, 1948.
•
No. 22
(R) British Embassy, Nanking. No: 14
Consul General, Canton. Special Commissioner,
Singapore.
No: 32.
No: 80
SECRET
Following is a political appreciation for
Hong Kong for the two weeks ending March 22nd.
1.
The two Chinese sentenced to imprisonment in January for resisting the Police during the Kowloon City eviction were released on March 13th. Some welcoming demonstrations had been planned in Kowloon City but wiser counsels prevailed largely as a result of restraining influence by Mr. T.W.. Kwok, Special Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Dr. T.V. Soong, Governor of Kwangtung. The two men have now gone to Canton to try to enlist further sympathy and financial assistance and it is hoped that Dr. Soong will find means to persuade them to stay there, where they will be less likely to provoke trouble.
2.
Dissident Chinese political elements in the Colony remain fairly active. It is, however, becoming clear that middle-of-the-road groups like the China Democratic League and the Kuomintang Revolutionary Committee in Hong Kong do not count for much in the final political solution in China, and there is a tendency for the more extreme leftwing elements of both those groups to align themselves more openly with the Chinese Communist Party. The leaders of the C.D.L. and the K.M.T. Revolutionary Committee do not appear to command any great following in China, and their influence on events is very small.
3.
There are reports that the HWA SHIANG PAO, the pro- Communist Leftist newspaper, is again facing financial difficulties, but it is likely that a sufficient amount of support will materialise to enable it to continue. Meanwhile it continues to follow the party-line, both nationally and internationally. Prominence was given to MAO TZE-TUNG's recent announcement that private industries and commerce would be welcomed in the Chinese Communist areas. Other Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong regarded this invitation as of very doubtful worth.
40
Little interest has been shown in the meeting of the Chinese National Assembly due for March 29th, except in the matter of the choice of a Vice-President. Some papers have taken polls the results of which indicate that General LI TSUNG-JEN is heavily fancied.
5.
Fair prominence has been given to the visit to the Colony of Lord Listowel, Minister of State for Colonial Affairs, who arrived on March 17th. The Chinese press has taken the opportunity to criticise the proposed Municipal Council mainly on the grounds that insufficient representation is given to Chinese, and that the voting qualifications are too restrictive. Sino-British relations have also been discussed by some papers, and the hope has been expressed that they will improve, although newspapers in the United Kingdom are criticised for not giving more space to the Chinese case regarding Kowloon City. Lord Listowel did not answer questions by The K.M.T. National Times, the press on the future of Hong Kong. has recently been urging greater British help for China in the latter's war against the Communists, taking the line that by helping China, Great Britain and America are actually helping themselves.
CHUR