Letter From Hong Kong

Letter From Hong Kong ~ The Climate of Fear MARIA LONDON The shadow of Mordor may be ad- vancing on Hong Kong, but it is not yet visible. The colony still gleams with its unique vigor and beauty. The pleasant ferries hurry back and forth, lordly ships from the West rest in the harbor, and cargo junks from Canton, flying faded red flags, unload brick at the dockside. You can still have a suit made in a few days. The room boys and waiters at the hotel are all the same as a year or two ago and they have not learned any more English since then. Repulse Bay continues serene and exquisite. Within a few days, it becomes quite clear, moreover, that no popular in- surrection threatens the colony. It is everywhere estimated that about

per cent of the Chinese population, no matter what the full diapason of their political sympathies may ordi- narily be, firmly support the British. The reason: Hong Kong is too close to mainland reality to entertain fan- tasies about it. Not only are many in the colony themselves refugees; there are countless relatives in Canton, letters and commuters back and forth. People who constantly send food par- cels and clothing from the colony across the border are not fooled about the actual state of affairs. In a show- down, they choose the full bowl of rice in a free household. In this re- spect, interestingly enough, the Hong Kong population may be considered much more reliably anti-Communist than many other Chinese communities far enough away to indulge in air- borne rationalization about mainland reality. –

ML

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Maria London

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Letter From Hong Kong ~ The Climate of Fear MARIA LONDON The shadow of Mordor may be ad- vancing on Hong Kong, but it is not yet visible. The colony still gleams with its unique vigor and beauty. The pleasant ferries hurry back and forth, lordly ships from the West rest in the harbor, and cargo junks from Canton, flying faded red flags, unload brick at the dockside. You can still have a suit made in a few days. The room boys and waiters at the hotel are all the same as a year or two ago and they have not learned any more English since then. Repulse Bay continues serene and exquisite. Within a few days, it becomes quite clear, moreover, that no popular in- surrection threatens the colony. It is everywhere estimated that about

per cent of the Chinese population, no matter what the full diapason of their political sympathies may ordi- narily be, firmly support the British. The reason: Hong Kong is too close to mainland reality to entertain fan- tasies about it. Not only are many in the colony themselves refugees; there are countless relatives in Canton, letters and commuters back and forth. People who constantly send food par- cels and clothing from the colony across the border are not fooled about the actual state of affairs. In a show- down, they choose the full bowl of rice in a free household. In this re- spect, interestingly enough, the Hong Kong population may be considered much more reliably anti-Communist than many other Chinese communities far enough away to indulge in air- borne rationalization about mainland reality. –