TNAG-0317-FCO40-353-Policy-of-housing-and-resettlement-in-Hong-Kong-problem-of-s-1971 — Page 129

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工人學生政治行動委員會

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WORKER-STUDENT POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

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Lord Garner,

House of Lords,

Westminster,"

London, S.W.1

Dear Sir,

January 26th 1971

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We are very appreciative of your concern for Hong Kong, and it is a matte of great satisfaction to us that there are voices which speak with your authority on our behalf in the Government in London. We read with interes your remarks as reported in the South China Morning Post of Friday, Jan 22nd in its account of the Lords' Debate on Hong Kong; we, agree with you

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that there is scope for change. (

The South China Morning Post's account is as follows:

Lord Garner said no doubt the Government of Hong Kong was а "somewhat strangely anachronistic authoritarianism "but it suits more or less the peculiar circumstances of Hong Kong at the present time."

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However he agreed with Lord Shepherd that there was scope for some changes. i.

He paid this tribute to Hong Kong:

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"When I read of the enthusiasts in the United Nations talking about Colonialism being a crime against humanity' I wish very much that they would go to Hong Kong and see what has been done because few such small areas in the world have made anything like a comparable contribution towards solving the refugee problem and other problems We have to admit that we find your "tribute to Ilong Kong" very disappointing. This sort of remark is, unfortunately, frequently heard from visitors who come to Hong Kong for a day or two, and see from a distance the resettlement estates, the "contribution towards solving the refugee problem", without getting to know at closer quarters what life in them is really like. And the same opinion, that the Hong Kong Govern- ment is making and has made a considerable contribution to solving the problem is also frequently heard in Government and business circles.

Unfortunately, this opinion, especially when repeated by someone of such

authority and consequence as yourself, serves, not only to make it more

difficult to improve what is essentially an extremely unsatisfactory

situation, but also encourages the Hong Kong Government in one of its most serious failings, that of complacency.

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No one would deny that the Government of Hong Kong has housed, in