HC Deb 04 November 1920 vol 134 cc592-3W
Sir A. YEO

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to the statement that children are enslaved in the colony of Hong Kong, and urging that if they were being mistreated to any great extent something should be done; and is he prepared to take any action in the matter?

Mr. MYERS

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention has been drawn to a statement that children are being bought and sold openly in Hong Kong; and whether he will make inquiries into the facts?

Lieut.-Colonel AMERY

My attention was drawn before the Recess to statements of the nature described, and inquiries have been made of the Governor as to the facts. I need hardly say that slavery does not exist in Hong Kong or any other British Colony. A custom does exist there, as elsewhere in China, by which, in return for a money payment, girls are transferred by their parents or natural guardians to the care of another household, usually for purposes of domestic service, though the transaction is described by the Chinese as a form of adoption. The law of the Colony, which is the law of England, dons not recognise such a transaction as conferring any right or title whatsoever on the employer as against the girl. There is no evidence that such girls are frequently ill-treated, and in cases where any ill-treatment takes place they are protected by the law in exactly the same way as children living with their parents. The Secretary of State's view is that the right course is to aim at gradual reform, where reform may be necessary, in co-operation with enlightened and humane members of the Chinese community, and he has suggested to the Governor that he should persuade a number of prominent Chinese to form a society for the protection and improvement in the condition of these girl domestics. It is considered that such an arrangement would be preferable to a system of compulsory registration, which, in the opinion of responsible officers in the Colony, it would not be practicable to administer satisfactorily.