Anarchy over the Border
TE turning back of Chinese refugees from the frontier of the colony of Hong Kong is a tragic business, but the authorities seem to have no other course open to them. The colony is already filled to bursting point with surplus popu- lation, water is rationed to four hours daily, and no other country in the world is willing to take large quantities of Chinese refugees. Moreover, were the frontier to be opened, the present figure of about 5,000 refugees a day would rise steeply.. Criticism of the Hong Kong Government on this., score conies ill from American senators and the Chiang Kai-shele regime. The United States and ; Formosa have made no attempt to alleviate Hong; Kong's population problem either (in the case of America) by/facilitating higher exports from the colony or (in that of Formosa) by taking some of its population. The present belated noises from Taipei and Washington sound uncomfortably like hypocrisy. How long the crisis will continue can only be conjectured. The rush of refugees seems to indicate something of a breakdown in; Peking's control of events in the • Kwantung,., province, and it may be some lime before the,; Chinese Government reasserts its power over what must be the anarchy prevailing there.
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