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In its editorial on the same day the paper remarked that though Mr. Liao was reiterating "what was the policy 20 years ago it would be difficult to restore the confidence of the Overseas Chinese following years of persecution".
It added that mainland Chinese with overseas connections might now feel a sense of relief but for those Chinese living abroad, their fears and suspicions could not be removed overnight and that "deeds are needed to support the announced policy".
The STAR (January 6) carried an article by David Davies, AFP, who said "China has promised a 'new look' in its relations with the Overseas Chinese" and that a national conference to discuss their affairs had been scheduled. Mr. Davies wondered how far the Chinese government would go
towards restoring their "special privileges" of pre-1967.
He said in the 1960s "it was feared in the West that the Chinese
Communists would seek to use the Overseas Chinese as a fifth column which would undermine non-Communist governments everywhere.
"But today, the Peking Government seems mainly concerned with harnessing the talents and energies of the Overseas Chinese to the task of national construction and modernisation."
Mr. Davies said Overseas Chinese communities in Southeast Asia numbered 15 million with increasingly numerous communities in the United States, Canada and Europe.
The EXPRESS (January 24) in an editorial said China's new policy on Overseas Chinese allowed them the right to choose their own nationality and to contribute to the country they had chosen to belong to. It added that it remained to be seen whether the new policy would really be put into practice.
The left-wing TIN FUNG YAT PO (January 26) said in its editorial that many people wished to visit China to see their relatives and to tour the country. The "patriotism (of these visitors) would be further aroused" if they were treated in a friendly manner by the customs and reception offices on their arrival in China, it added.
The HONGKONG DAILY NEWS (January 17) commented editorially on PRAVDA's report on China's new Overseas Chinese policy. The Soviet paper had said it was obvious that the directives set out were to "place millions of Chinese abroad at the direct service of Peking's Great-Power policy".
The Hong Kong Daily News said it did not feel that Peking's propaganda or activities to "exert greater influence" on Overseas Chinese as having "malicious or subversive intentions".
It said as far as Hong Kong was concerned China wanted it to maintain its status quo, and any Soviet attempts to disrupt this would certainly be stopped by China.
The South China Morning Post on (February 23) reported that the United Front Work Department of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee had repeated its resolve to "strengthen the patriotic united front against hegemony among our compatriots in Hongkong and Macau".
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