Police revolt, trade woes unnerve colony

Press, 14 November 1977, Page 9

Police revolt, trade woes unnerve colony

By

BRUCE KOHN, NZPA

staff correspondent Hong Kong

A sense of unease pervades the British colony of Hong Kong after Government measures taken to put down a rebellion of its police force. It is not helped by growing fears in business circles about the future of the colony’s high-producing textile industry, a* present under siege by protectionistminded countries of the European Economic Community.

Anxiety is reflected in the Stock market which fell sharply last week with analysts attributing the falls to the twin factors of police restiveness and economic attack by the E.E.C. In the case of the police force, an immediate breakdown of law and order was avoided by the governor (Sir Murray MacLehose) through the passage of emergency legislation giving the co-

lony’s police commissioner power to dismiss any policeman refusing to accept an order from a superior. The governor’s legislation received full backing from the Legislative Council, comprising representatives of the Chinese and expatriate community. It is responsible for scrutiny of legislation he proposed. In the face of this legislative move the protesting police backed off from their demands for a full amnesty covering all policemen involved in corrupt practices before January 1 of this year. The Administration claimed the policemen were being manipulated by about 200 of their number who, having been given indications they were under suspicion of committing misdeeds before that date, had decidedly suspect motives in pushin o for the complete amnesty. Relief that an immediate breakdown of law and order

had been avoided briefly obscured the price the Government had paid initially to quell police restiveness. A numbei of prominent citizens and newspapers are now querying whether the limited amnesty granted by the governor was wise. Essentially the limited amnesty provides that no policeman not already under investigation for corrupt practices engaged in before January 1 will be prosecuted. Exceptions are cases where the corruption was so heinous it would be unthinkable not to prosecute. A number of prominent community leaders believe this partial amnesty may have undermined the effectiveness of the colony’s Independent Commission against Corruption, established three years ago to break the back of syndicated corruption. Spokesmen of the I.C.A.C. attribute the police unrest to its effectiveness. That the commission has

strong public support is evident. Last week one group of 47 executives of the building industry sent a joint letter to it offering “wholehearted support in the difficult but absolutely necessary task which you have been set." The commission is investigating the industry to determine the extent of possible malpractice through the bribing of public officials to allow construction contractors to evade minimum building standards.

It is clear the public does not want to see the commission weakened. The governor won widespread support for a statement that “it would be an absolute tragedy if the police force were now to give the impression of obstructing or blocking the weeding out of corruption.”

Sir Yuet-keung Kan, a noted leader of the Chinese community, declared that the Royal Hong Kong Police remained under the censure of the whole Hong Kong

community. He asked them to redeem their reputation for having brought Hong Kong to the brink of catastrophe. But, while the concerns about the police are grabbing most attention businessmen are focusing almost equal attention on E.E.C. intransigence over textile imports. Hong Kong is being asked by the Community to accept a 13 per cent cut in its shipments of textiles to the E.E.C. on levels of 1976. The world’s leading clothing exporter, Hong Kong refuses to accept the cut. The Hong Kong Government has made counter-pro-posals but these were rejected out of hand last week by the E.E.C.

South Korea and India are also facing cuts of a lesser but significant nature in their exports. The E.E.C. puts forward arguments that its protectionist stance is rooted in unemployment

problems within Western Europe.

As businessmen in Hong Kong see the situation, however, cuts in supply of the magnitude proposed by the E.E.C. would have a severe effect on Hong Kong’s economy. Last year 43 per cent of Hong Kong’s foreign earnings came from textile exports. International trade authorities fear that unless Hong Kong and South Korea, as well as India, can reach some agreement with the Community the international multi-fibres arrangement, which loosely controls the global flow of textiles, and was worked out within the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, will collapse. Hong Kong’s traders do not want that to happen. But they seem extremely unhappy at the prospect that the price for its continuance will be so-called “voluntary restraint” supply agreements distinctly disadvantageous to them. '