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Descriptive Note No. 14
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VISIT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO HONG KONG
APRIL, 1970
Internal Political Situation
The activities of local communists constitute the greatest
threat to security in Hong Kong. The Communist movement is not
proscribed - and could not be, given the likely Chinese reaction.
2. Since 1949, with encouragement and financial support from
China, there have been established in the Colony some
9 newspapers, 57 trade unions, and many schools - all under
Communist control. A number of communist-controlled banks,
headed by the Bank of China, are operating in the Colony.
Communist-controlled companies (agencies of the Chinese state
organisations) are active in the field of trade and shipping.
Over all these activities the local office of the New China News
Agency (NCNA), a state organisation closely associated with the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, exercises a general political
supervisory role. The Hong Kong Government has not interfered
with these activities provided they are conducted within the law.
3. For two decades Hong Kong has followed a policy of "firmness
without provocation" in dealing with the problems posed by
communist influence and activity in the Colony. It has been
necessary on the one hand to contain and control it so that it
does not constitute a challenge or threat to the authority of
the government, and on the other hand, to avoid action that might
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