The Crown Colony of Hong Kong Norman L. Dodd colonel UK Army, retired A 'part of China presently administrated by the they must be the minimum required for their tasks. British authorities' is the terminology used by the These tasks have first to be decided. Certainly government of the Peoples' Republic of China to there is no possibility of the garrison being large describe the British Crown Colony of Hong Kong. enough to withstand a direct attack from China. The Chinese do not accept the 'unequal' treaties of 1841 and 1860 which ceded Hong Kong and A remote possibility anyway, particularly so due Kowloon respectively to the British or the 1898 to the present good relations between the United lease of the New Territories. A lease, which, ac- Kingdom and the Peoples Republic and locally cording to the British but not the Chinese, lapses between Hong Kong and the neighbouring pro- vince of Kwantung (Canton). There is no other in 1997. The latter say that Hong Kong will revert exterior threat to the colony. The principle task to their administration in due course but at present of the defence forces is therefore one of internal they are in no hurry to exert their authority. security in support of the locally raised but mainly, The curious position in which the defence forces at present, British officered, police force. This task find themselves in Hong Kong arises partly from is all important. The Commander of the British this Chinese view of the situation. The inhabitants Force, Lt.Gen. Sir Edwin Bramall, said recently: of Hong Kong and the British government fully understand that China could not and would not Hong Kong's phenomenal progress and achievement, accept any British grant of self-government to the and the remarkable economie position it has earned colony. This position is quite opposite to their for itself in the Far East and indeed the world can desire for the inhabitants of other colonies of the be attributed largely to three things: former British empire. The Chinese government 1. the extraordinary ingenuity, drive and energy of its have also made it clear that they would not accept people and those who come to work here; a situation in which the British terminated their 2. a stable tax system; 3. the ability of the government to maintain and in- overall responsibilities for the internal and extern- deed to guarantee law and order. al defence of the colony. There must be a con- Our ability to get through, with our own resources, tinuing presence of British troops in Hong Kong. any internal disturbances however long or short is Locally enlisted forces alone responsible for the still fundamental in terms of confidence, to any long defence of the colony would not be acceptable to term economie endeavours and progress. the Chinese communists or to the Chinese inhabi- The police, excellent though they are, do need support tants of Hong Kong. Both would mistrust the im- when 'the chips are down'. partiality of such forces in a time of serious crisis or troubles. Nor would it be economical for the The close co-operation between the police and the colony to raise, train, equip and arm a fully fledged armed forces, which will be discussed later, ensu- 'army', 'navy' and 'air force'. res that the police can be used in what they are most suited, i.e. close contact with the local popu- Required strength for principal task lation and dealing with crowds and crime. The military supporting by guarding vital points, cor- These factors were much in the minds of the re- dons, rural patrols and the provision of special- presentatives of the British and Hong Kong gov- its services and equipment. The co-operation and ernments during the 1975 negotiations on the organization of both forces is so designed that a future strength and financing of the garrison. situation can never develop in which the police Both governments are agreed that some British get so exhausted that the Army has to take over. troops must remain and that for financial reasons Or so the authorities hope. 25 Joint Police/Grenadier Guards patrol in the border area Border and coastal patrols vide the confidence which is required for further economie development. The second military task is to patrol the border with China and the coastal waters. After the tre- Prosperous metropolis mendous influx of 120,000 refugees in early 1962 and a resultant armed clash between Red Guards The development so far is indeed incredible. The and the police relations with China have im- City itself and Kowloon on the mainland are bust- proved. An agreement has been reached under ling, teeming metropolis pouring out goods and which illegal immigrants are returned to the Chi- services throughout the world. nese authorities. This may sound somewhat inhu- In 1945 the population of the whole colony was man but the saturation point in Hong Kong has around 500,000, today it is 4,3 million crammed been reached and public opinion there forced this into an area of only 404 square miles. Somehow decision upon the government. It is impracticable they are all housed, virtually all working and all and unacceptable to allow any further increase in fed. New government low cost housing, vast high the population of the colony. The Chinese govern- rises leaning one upon another, accommodate ment charge those returning with the offence of nearly two million people and this figure is in- moving from one part of China to another without creasing every month as new buildings are opened. proper authority; it is reported that the returned Some of these developments of five or six appart- offenders are not treated harshly. In fact many ment blocks hold 60 to 70,000 people, the popu- later try again! During ten months in 1975 the lation of a medium sized town elsewhere. The pos- Army and Naval patrol vessels apprehended 966 sibilities of internal security problems should there illegal immigrants and returned all except 22 to ever be an economie depression are indeed daunt- the Chinese authorities. ing. Only, perhaps, the Chinese can live in such close proximity to one another and yet retain their Assistance, help and aid customs and good humour. Maybe it is because envy is not included in the make up of a Chinese. The third role of the Services is to take a full part Everyone wishes to emulate or improve upon the in the life of the community and to render assist- efforts of the successful. All desire education and ance during disasters, to help rural development, improvement in conditions for their children. They to aid the youth service and to assist local autho- are willing to work hard to achieve their goals. rities. In May 1975 more than 4,000 South Viet- North and east of Kowloon He the New Territo- namese refugees arrived at 24 hours notice, the ries. These are divided into six administrative Services met them, erected camps and looked after districts, the terrain is rugged in the centre with them until they could be moved elsewhere. beautiful mountains rising to more than 2,300 feet Finally the Armed Forces provide by their dis- then falling again to the north into paddy and ciplined presence the visible manifestation that the farming areas. The border with the Peoples' Re- British governments intends to live up to their public of China lies along the small but navigable responsibilities towards Hong Kong and so pro- Shun Chun River from the west for about 10 miles 26 L. to the rail crossing point at Lo Wu. The remaining improved by reclamation from the sea and the 12 miles follow the river and then rise over a building of a reservoir on the reclaimed land. hilly area before reaching the sea at the divided village of Sha Tau Kok. The Chinese Travel Agency and the Chinese Bank seem to be the points of contact between the go- vernment of the colony and the Peoples' Republic. Bamboo Curtain Officials in Hong Kong are reticent about the de- The border is in no way comparable to the 'Iron tails of the arrangements but they seem to be adequate because many Chinese businessmen pass Curtain'. Farmers living in the Republic cross into the New Territories to till their land, junks relatively easily both ways across the border. There is no direct contact between the actual patrols on move along the river and people live happily up to the border on both sides. However, to avoid the border though sometimes friendly waves are exchanged. 'misunderstanding' there is a narrow Frontier Closed Zone on the colony side and along this a wire fence has been erected to deter illegal bor- Administration der crosses and to mark the limits of the area. About 12,000 Hong Kong Chinese live in the The colony is administered by the Hong Kong Frontier Closed Zone. Other persons who wish government of which the Governor is the central to enter must obtain passes from the authorities. figure. He is the representative of the Queen and Since the disturbances connected with the cultural presides, as Head of the government, at meetings revolution of 1967, the Army, assisted by the of the Executive council whose advice hè must police, have been responsible for the security of seek on all important policy matters. The Go- the border and the Zone. At present one battalion vernor is also president of the Legislative council at a time provides patrols and lookouts along the where hè possesses both an original and a casting 23 miles and attempts to apprehend the border vote.