TNAG-1690-FCO40-2340-Hong-Kong-legislation-regarding-the-control-of-publications--1987 — Page 165

1987-07-09 09:23

COMMS. OFFICE (GOV'T HSE)

852 5 845 0995 P.06

to Hong Kong of maintaining good relations with other

territories,)

I accept, of course, the point mode by

several Members that propaganda can be mounted

through a variety of channels including books and

newspapers and I recognise that the censorship of

films is dealt with differently under the low.

But,

I do believe that the people of Hong Kong expect

different standards to be applied to the censorship

of films than is applied to other media. The Impact

of films is more immediate and more vivid and because

they are shown to large audiences gathered together

in one place, the reactions that can be provoked by

them can be quite dramatic. The received wisdom is

that youngsters can sometimes react even more

strongly, What seems to be clear from all the many

surveys that have been undertaken in this field is

that the standards the censors have applied in the

past have been broadly acceptable to the majority of

Hong Kong's people.

'The thin end of the wedge' argument has

been mounted by some members today, That is, that if

we allow present arrangements to continue, we have

somehow tacitly accepted that similor arrangements

can be applied to other media in the future. I find

this argument difficult to follow. The fact is that

L

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