§ 54. Mr. J. Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware there are approximately 300 ex-Japanese prisoners of war of Chinese race in Hong Kong; whether he has yet received their applications for payment of war claims; and how much they have been paid to date.
§ The Minister of State for Colonial Affairs (Mr. Henry Hopkinson)Assets made available to Hong Kong under Article 14 of the Japanese Peace Treaty are not being distributed individually to former Japanese prisoners of war. Most of these assets have been used to establish an endowment fund for Hong Kong University.
§ Mr. JohnsonIs the Minister aware that many of these Chinese subjects have made claims and are hoping for some payments? Will he make it quite clear to the House that there has been no discrimination towards those subjects vis-à-vis other subject peoples in the Commonwealth?
§ Mr. HopkinsonNo, Sir. Under the arrangements of the Japanese Peace Treaty, it was left to each Government with Japanese assets which are realised under Article 14 to decide what use could 1032 be made of them. In this country there was a distribution per capita, but in the countries which were overrun by the Japanese, notably Malaya, Borneo and Hong Kong, the assets were being used for the community as a whole so that there will be no distribution to ex-prisoners of war.