ENG-1980 — Page 34

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REVIEW

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different goals. The advent of more leisure, the need for wider interests and more recreation, the promotion of sport, the enjoyment of music, drama, dance and art, and the urge to travel abroad have all followed in the wake of growing prosperity – a prosperity that stems not from a one-track economy but one that is today drawing strongly from a variety of activities and services.

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The growth of two-way tourism, the hotel trade, the banking and computer industries, the retail trade, containerisation (which has made us the third largest and the world's fastest container port) have all served to broaden the base of the economy and to spread the load of Hong Kong's prosperity. And, in turn, this has made new demands for the train- ing of skilled men and women to serve these various industries. Diversification somewhat hackneyed catch-cry over the years, aimed at breaking the textile monopoly and the concentration of exports to the United States market has come to assume a far greater significance, applying to all facets of the economy. A report published in 1979 by a high-level committee headed by the Financial Secretary, explored the subject in depth and its many conclusions pointed to what could in the years ahead lead to widespread benefits in many different sectors of the economy.

Closing the Door on Illegals

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In the closing years of the 1970s, Hong Kong's population passed the five million mark, largely due to the intake of half a million legal and illegal immigrants (mainly from Guangdong province) since 1976.

In October, 1980, the government took a major policy decision by deciding to end the so-called 'reached base' policy under which illegal immigrants who succeeded in being reunited with relatives in Hong Kong, were allowed to remain and claim an identity card. This widely-criticised policy survived for a number of years because of the government's reluctance to permit a sub-stratum of people living outside the law who could be exploited by employers and blackmailed by unscrupulous people. But in the end, as the Governor himself admitted on his return from talks in Guangzhou, even the Chinese authorities accused Hong Kong of applying a policy which 'positively welcomed illegal immigrants'. It was a decision therefore welcomed by the Chinese who revealed that some communes had had their workforce reduced to 30 per cent by the mass exodus which at its height involved about 3,500 people a day, with about one-fifth of that number entering Hong Kong. The change of policy, requiring all Hong Kong people to carry identification at all times in all parts of the territory, caused an immediate sharp fall in the numbers of illegal immi- grants trying to enter. But it is too early to judge the long-term effects, and it would be none too surprising to see the figures increasing in 1981, so desperate are many in China to try and reach Hong Kong. The possibility that Hong Kong might one day have to cope with a population of 12 million is a recognition that immigration can, at best, be controlled but never stopped.

Only slightly less daunting was the influx of more than 90,000 refugees from Vietnam since 1975. While more than two-thirds have been found new homes abroad, Hong Kong is still caring for more than 24,000 who may prove to be an indigestable remnant, for Hong Kong lacks the political clout of the ASEAN countries whose off-take of refugees has been higher in recent years. And while Hong Kong is grateful for the response of countries like the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, France and Germany, there were signs at the year's end that some of the quotas, once filled, will not be renewed. Hong Kong has no option but to keep reminding the world that the refugees are an international problem and that its generous and humane treatment is not to be construed as a permanent commit-