Foreign and Commonwealth Office
London SW1A 2AH
HKB 306
RECEIVED A
Dr Mark Blaxter
Imperial College Science,
Technology and Medicine London
SW7 2AY
Telephone 01-
04 JUN 1990
DES NDEX
Your reference
LLIAAF
Our reference
11 April 1990
Date
FILE.O
Dear Mr. Blaxter,
Thank you for your letter about the Taiwanese documentary film, "Mainland China 89". I regret the delay in replying.
The Hong Kong Government has always had the power to ban films on political grounds. Until late 1988, when the legislation was dramatically eased, the criterion had been whether the showing of a particular film would "damage relations with other territories".
Against the background of a changing climate of opinion, revised film censorship legislation was passed in 1988: it continued to permit the Hong Kong Government to ban films, if it so decided, but it tightened the rules in a number of ways. It states that a ban on political grounds has to depend on there being "a likelihood that the exhibition of the films would seriously damage good relations with other territories". Rules of this kind are common in many countries. There is also a new provision for appeals against decisions by the censor to a Film Censorship Review Board. This has a majority of non official members.
It must be for the Hong Kong Government to take the decisions it feels necessary in the light of local circumstances. The Arts Centre appealed against the decision to censor part of the film to the Film Censorship Review Board. They decided unanimously that the decision should stand.
Your sincerely,
Gary Fisher
G Fisher
Hong Kong Department
I
Dago O
Mr Haswell
Mr Stout
WE SORE.
PERIAL COLLEGE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
COMMONWEALTH
Ms Fisher
OFFICE
How would
you like to
22 FEB 1990 HKI
Dear Mr Hurd,
THA
London, SW7 2AY
Telephone: 01-589 5111
Fax:01-584 7596 Telex:929484 IMPCOLG Department of Biochemistry
Itry you had Dr Mark Blaxter.
at a reply to this?
22/3
IMPERI
I am embarassed to learn
E danse,
CVS-ET
that the Hong Kong censors have decided to cut scenes and interviews from the film "Mainland China 89" Shown in Hong Cong recently. Apparently these scenes were western TV footage of Tiananmen Square and the democracy movement: they were cut so as not to "damage good
relations"! My embarassment stems from my being British, and therefore implicated in your, and Mrs Thatcher's, continued inability to be truthful and honest about Hong Kong. Well
you
ask the censors to let the people of HKC See the truth? A truth which you
roundly condemned in the Summer of 89 but would now rather ignore? I hope you will take swift action, Yours Sincerely
Montbater
Tage
Tage ›
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