Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1958-02-16
ENCHANTED CITY,
By BARTON M. BIGGS
Star Stan Writer

One of the few remnants of
Great Britain's vast Eastern en-
pire and the Vests last f1ngerhold
on the continent Of Asia is the
tiny crown colony of Hong Kong,
sometimes called "the enchanted
city" These days its eIichantment
seems to lie less in its exotic at
mosphere than in its ability to
stay outside the borders of Red
China.
It would indeed be q blow to
the West If this incredibly beau
tiful city slung between the slop-
ing foothills of the Kowloon pen
tSula and around one of the finest
natural harbors in the world should
be annexed by Communist China.
Culturally and intellectually
the city is the perfect Synthesis Of
East and West. Many Chinese
speak Of it as the last repository
OF the wisdom. dignity. grace and
other-worldliness of old China.
Since l948. 1900 Chinese intel
lectuals $4,000 with degrees from
American universities) have mi
grated to Hong Kong.
But more tangibly. the value Of
Hong Kong to the West in gen.
eral and Britain in particular.
militarily. politically and espe-
cially economically is immense.
A GibroItor?
Prime Minister Macmillan has
called Hong Kong "the Gibraltar
OF the East" with $4,000 troops
and huge dockyards capable of
servicing Britain's Far Eastern
heet. But in the face of Red
China's military power, Mr.. Mac
millan's appraisal seems a little
unrealistic..
The colony's value politically
Is indisputable. 1t is the Vests
only real listening post for Com
munist China. and the thousands
Of refugees from China supply
information that is otherwise un-
available, as newspaper datelines
attest.
If politically it is q window on
China. economically Hong Kong
Is a shop window for Southeast
Asia with the capital, the inves-
tors. workers. and sense Of enter
prise all refugees from commu-
nism have. Refugees have swollen
Hong Kong's population from 500
thousand to almost million since
World War II and have trans
formed 1t into a major industrial
city with an accompanying con-
struction boom. Despite the loss
Of trade suffered when China
became Communist. the city is
still extremely valuable to Britain
as an international clearing house
for trade with Indonesia, Thai
land. Japan and other eastern
nations. China itself still buys
$40 million q year worth Of manu-
featured goods from Britain.
Luxury tor Sole
The city also benefits from an
extensive tourist trade that in
cludes thousands of American
Servicemen from Japan and Oki-
nawa, and even Red China's COM
nlissars occasionally sneak in for
q taste OF luxury. Clothes, silk,
ivory and high living are all avail
able and cheap.
But 1t is this very prosperity
that makes Hong Kong's position
precarious. The richer and more
prosperous 1t becomes, the greater
is the temptation to China to take
1t. Though the Reds know they
couldn't run Hong Kong as profit
ably as the British. they might be
tempted TO milk it for what they
could.
Another threat is the refugee
problem. Though many Of the
refugees have been Incorporated
into Hong Kong's thriving econ
omy, at least half a million are
unemployed. Most are penniless
and few have skills, so handouts
and begging are the only alterna-
tives. Starvation is common and
housing nonexistent. making the
streets Of the city beds for thou
sands Of people. The more fortu-
nate live in fiimsy cardboard
huts on vacant lots or sleep under