24
PAP!.
2/2/3/70.
Feb.25. 1970.
Journalist hits back
at. American ads
on HK sweatshops
an
Mr Richard Harris, The Times' Far East Affairs Correspondent, has defended Hongkong against attack made on the Colony in an advertisement placed. in The Guardian and the Washington Post by four American garment and textiles workers' unions.
The ad, which occupied
a quarter page, was headed "Hongkong sweatshops im- peril American jobs."
It claimed to be "an Mr urgent memorandum to Harold Wilson". Speaking in' the British Broadcasting Cor- - poration's programme, "Out- look", Mr Harris described the ad as "unjust" in the way it attacked Hongkong specifi-, cally.
The complaint of the American unions was that goods produced by Hongkong labour, allegedly at a tenth of the wages paid in America, were flooding the American market.
The
of
unions urged the Prime Minister to negotiate a solution to this problem Hongkong's low-wage ex- ports.
Harris
Mr
On the BBC, was asked how true was the,
about Americans complaint "Hongkong sweatshops."
He replied: "I don't think you can say this of the tex- tiles industry in Hongkong. in- "It's undoubtedly the dustry which has grown most in the last 20 years and as a consequence many of its fac- tories are very up to date.
[
J
"10
f
Textiles
1
"Half of the whole of Hongkong labour is employ- ed in textiles and almost half of Hongkong's exports come from textiles
so it is for
a
major proposition Hongkong's life.
"But sweatshops, no."
Mr Harris was, asked how he reacted to the attack against the British Govern- ment.
He thought it unjustified.
"There is no doubt," he said, a problem for developed countries like America, our- selves, and West Europe and so on, of cheap textiles com- ing from places like Hong- kong.
one
"Hongkong happens to be picked
be- out frequently cause it's just
great it manufacturing place, as
Pakis- were, whereas India, tan, South Korea and various other countries
into which are moving textiles business, are faced by the same hostility by the Western importer.
J
:1
the
also
}
we
"No doubt there is a pro- blem and every country tries to solve the problem in its
In Britain, own way. have a quota of imports of textiles from Hongkong. And all kinds of systems are used in tariffs, and so on."
Mr
Stans, Maurice
the Commerce Secretary, had visited Hongkong last year, He had tried, both in South Korea and Hongkong, to get an arrangement which would reduce textiles exports to the U.S. So the problem was not peculiar to Hongkong.
"Why was Hongkong pick- ed out particularly then by the American trade unions?" he was asked.
Said Mr Harris: "Well, my only conclusion is this: Since everything said in that ad- vertisement about Hongkong could be said about South Korea only more so, ber
1
cause there are more sweat- of shops, and the standard living is lower in South Korea.
"There is an element of I think traditional American anti-colonialism the feel-' ing that here's a sort of non- sense, a British colony still existing.
"Fact is, of course, we don't know what else to do with it; we have to hang on to Hongkong. And, in the case of South Korea, which could be criticised on pre- cisely the same ground and even more so, it's an ally of the U.S.
"Just remember that the per capita income in Hong- kong now is in the neigh- bourhood of U.S.$600 (£249,- more 60) and
wages have than doubled in the last 10 years, Hongkong you cannot think of now as a low-wage place.
"I think there is a case for the advertisement in the sense that you
British textile unions Lancashire
manufacturers
find
have been
last
20
com-
making complaints about Hongkong for the years. They make plaint about India and so on. "But it's ✡ general com- plaint of all developed coun- tries against all textile-manu- 1facturing underdeveloped countries, and it happens to affect textiles more than any other industry.
}
Another
Meanwhile, Hongkong now is being attacked again based on alleged sweatshops by the London Sunday Mirror in a series of articles by
a correspondent Martin Page.
The first article was head- ed "Slaves Empire-made", the second, dealt with child-
hours "working 60
ren week."
Government was
a
asked
what it was doing to coun- ter any adverse effect these articles might have
the Colony's image in the United Kingdom.
on
A Government spokesman said: "We have seen the first of Mr Martin Page's articles and we are not surprised at the contents nor the title of his text.
"We were aware, when Mr Page came here last year, that he intended to write and we along these lines gave him every opportunity to meet people who could give him facts on which he might base a less prejudiced view.
"You ask what action Government intends to take. It must be recognised the options en to individuals or communities treated like this are few.
"It should also be observed that Mr Fage's statements are "How do these countries so extreme and obviously at get on unless they are allow-variance with fact, and his ed to export?”
#
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY No. 51 CER 1970
NICK
comparisons are so meaning- !less, that his articles are likely to be largely discount- ed by his own readers.
"Government will continue its policy of offsetting this type of article by making available and publishing the real facts about Hongkong, and it will continue to make these facts available to people like Mr Page, despite his prejudices.
"Indeed, Mr Page is sup- plied regularly with informa- tion about Hongkong in his capacity as London corres- pondent of Hongkong e ing newspaper
!
100
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.