Heath and Hong Kong
Mr Heath has well deserved his warm welcome to Peking for, from the beginning of his period as Prime Minister, he pursued a clear-headed and logical policy of reconciliation between Britain and the People's Republic of China. It is also the case that his fervent Europeanism is agreeable to Chinese leaders, who see the Common Market, and an even more closely united Europe, as an important counterbalance to the power of Soviet Russia, relieving them to some degree of Russian pressure on their northern borders. However, the question is asked whether there is anything useful Mr Heath can do now, other than enjoy himself and inspect Britain's new, if cautious, friend at closer range.
There is a certain amount he can do to prepare for the next period in which the Conservative Party enjoys power. Already, for example, we are coming uncomfortably close to the moment when our lease on the mainland territories of Hong Kong runs out and, if our supposedly perpetual hold on the islands remains, it can only be on Chinese sufferance, much as Macao is still held by the Portuguese. When the time comes for the closure of the Hong Kong colony an enormous human problem will be immediately created: already the wealthier or more astute Hong Kong Chinese have been preparing billets for themselves in Taiwan — though the survival of that island bastion of Chinese resistance to Mao is also in doubt. But there will be many, many more citizens of the Crown Colony who will be plunged into an enormously difficult situation. Nor is it clear whether we are prepared to surrender the islands gracefully if China should request us to, or whether we will try to resist their will. If Mr Heath begins to think constructively about these problems following his visit his time will have been well spent.
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