XN000022-1974-06-25 — Page 4

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TUESDAY, JUNE 25, 1974

HONG KONG HAD ALSO HAD ITS UGLIER FEATURES IN RECENT YEARS, SIR MURRAY SAID, CITING THE SHARP RISE IN VIOLENT CRIME AND THE RECKLESS USE OF WEAPONS IN ROBBERY AND GANG FIGHTS WHICH HAD MORE THAN DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF MURDERS IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, AND RAISED THE RATE OF ROBBERY TO FIVE TIMES THAT IN LONDON.

+THIS,✦ HE SAID, +HAS HIGHLIGHTED THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ATTITUDES OF PEOPLE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND IN HONG KONG TO THE USE OF THE DEATH SENTENCE.+

HE ADDED THAT IT IS AN ISSUE ON WHICH MOST PEOPLE AT ALL LEVELS OF SOCIETY IN HONG KONG FEEL STRONGEST AT THIS TIME.+

THE GOVERNOR VENT ON TO SAY THAT THE SITUATION IN HONG KONG HAD BEEN CASED BY IMPROVED RELATIONS WITH CHINA. +THE RELAXATION OF TENSION IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC IN GENERAL, AND IMPROVED SINO-CRITISH RELATIONS IN PARTICULAR, HAVE JDEN GREATLY TO HONG KONG'S ADVANTAGE.+

SIR MURRAY ALSO PAID TRIBUTE TO THE HONG KONG ASSOCIATION AND TO calS OF PARLIAMENT FOR THEIR SUPPORT TO HONG KONG .

+THE STEADY SUPPORT AND PERSONAL INTEREST OF SIR ALEC DOUGLAS-HOME AND OF SIR ANTHONY ROYLE WERE OF IMMENSE VALUE AND WILL LONG BE REMINDERED,+ KE SAID.

THESE

+THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT'S EARLY REAFFIRMATION OF THE COMMITMENT TO HONG KONG, THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S ROBUST WORDS TO THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY, AND LORD GORONUY-ROBERT'S IMMEDIATE SYMPATHY AND INTEREST ARE THINGS THAT MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN HONG KONG, THE DIFFERENCE DETVEEN CONFIDENCE AND SENSE OF BELONGING ON THE ONE HAND, AND SENSE OF NEGLECT AND ISOLATION ON THE OTHER.

ASSURANCE

SIR ANTHONY ROYLE, A MENDER OF PARLIAMENT AND FORMER UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE, ALSO SPOKE AT THE DINNER AND GAVE AN ASSURANCE THAT THE OVERALL WISH OF MP'S OF BOTH PARTIES WAS TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT HONG KONG.

+THERE IS NO PARTY POLITICAL DISAGREEMENT ABOUT THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT BRITAIN HAS TO HONG KONG,+ HE SAID, +AND THERE IS AN OVERALL ALL-PARTY DETERMINATION IN BRITAIN TO ENSURE THAT HONG KONG CONTINUES TO PROSPER AND THAT ALL WHO LIVE THERE SHOULD BENEFIT FROM THE LINKS THEY HAVE WITH BRITAIN,+

SIR ANTHONY SAID HONG KONG'S PREOCCUPATION WITH ITS OWN AFFAIRS WAS UNDERSTANDABLE, AS WAS THAT OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN ITS OWN AFFAIRS.

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/HE WARNED .****

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