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CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION

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the work of the local forces and acts as the main channel of com- munication between the government and Her Majesty's Armed Forces stationed in the Colony. The Secretariat includes a Political Adviser seconded from the Foreign Office.

The Secretary for Chinese Affairs is the Governor's principal adviser on Chinese traditions and ways of life, and is also charged with special responsibilities for strengthening channels of direct communication between the government and Hong Kong's Chinese people at all levels. This is done largely by constant personal con- tacts, from departmental headquarters and five branch offices, with the men and women who are the elected or natural leaders in some three to four hundred Chinese societies. These range from Hong Kong's premier charitable organization, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, to some of the smaller clansmen's associations, and from the 600,000-strong Kaifong movement to close-knit Buddhist groups. In practice there is no aspect of the government's work on which Hong Kong people do not seek information, advice or help from the Secretary for Chinese Affairs. In addition, as a body corporate, the Secretary for Chinese Affairs administers, with the advice of predominantly Chinese committees, nine social service trust funds totalling $12 million in cash and securities, as well as most of Hong Kong's Chinese temples.

Hong Kong's drive against narcotics is co-ordinated by the Secretary for Chinese Affairs, with the help of a strongly constituted Narcotics Advisory Committee at policy level, and another and larger Action Committee Against Narcotics. The Action Committee effectively provides at operational level for the fullest exchange of opinions and information, and for a system of practical co-ordina- tion between nine executive branches of the government and seven voluntary organizations.

Particular responsibilities with regard to some of Hong Kong's housing problems come to the Secretary for Chinese Affairs through his participation in two housing organizations and the Urban Council, and through the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs' Tenancy Inquiry Bureaux. In practice these bureaux are primarily concerned with the rights and welfare of the tenants of any building which has to be condemned and of any rent-controlled premises which a landlord wishes to demolish.