MONTHLY REPORT--HONG KONG BUREAU--JUNE 1985

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86-00040R000300530008-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2010
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: July 1, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

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FOREIGN BROADCAST INFORMATION SERVICE
HONG KONG BUREAU
MHK_.5012
I. July 1985
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director, Foreign Broadcast Information Service
THROUGH : Chief, Operations Group
SUBJECT : Monthly Report--Hong Kong Bureau.......-June :1985
A. Confidence in Hong Kong banking was shaken during the month
following the failure of one major bank and serious financial
difficulties at several smaller institutions. After several days of
emergency meetings, the Hong Kong Government announced that it would
take over the insolvent Overseas Trust Bank, which had collapsed due
to fraud by bank managers. The OTB collapse led to a run on other
banks by depositors. The government's takeover of OTB and its
assurances of honoring all withdrawal requests helped calm matters
down, but there is sti 11 a good deal of nervousness in the financial.
community. The OTB affair sent the stock market in a tailspin, with
share prices falling 5 percent in one day's trading. Meanwhile,
according to local media reports, the PRC provided credit to several
of the smaller banks that were experiencing difficulties. This was
seen here as an indication of China's understanding of the delicate
economic situation in Hong Kong.
B. Richard Williams, deputy principal officer at the Consulate,
will be leaving Hong Kong in July to take up an assignment in
Washington. He will be replaced by Arthur Kobler, currently the
economic counselor in Beijing.
A. Monitorial/Editorial
1. Beijing announced during the month that a new overseas
edition of RENMIN RIBAO would become available starting 1 July. This
new paper will be published in Hong Kong, Tokyo, San Francisco, and
Paris, relying on satellite facsimile transmissions out of Beijing.
Preliminary reports indicate that the paper will differ from the
regular RENMIN RIBAO, providing ample reporting on China but with
more appeal to an international audience. An unfortunate result of
this development is that the regular edition of the paper, copies of
which are now printed in Hong Kong and available on day of
publication, will no longer be available here except by air mail
subscription from Beijing. The printing facility now used for the
regular paper will henceforth be used to run off the overseas
edition. The bureau has arranged to start receiving the overseas
edition as soon as it is available, and an airmail subscription to
the regular paper has also been sent to Beijing. Future changes in
the availability of Beijing television have also been reported.
These might benefit the bureau, however. China is reported to have
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the Hong Kong border-. "he intent is to make Beij g TV available to
.the people of Hong Kona. if successful, and China installs permanent
transmitting facilities, we would probably be able to monitor Beijing
TV directly rather than having to rely on Cable v, Wireless to do it
for us from Victoria Peak. We would no doubt be one of the few
watchers. It is a well known fact that half of Guangdong
Province--all those who can manage with whatever kind of
antenna--watch Hong Kong television, rather than Beijing.
2. The mid-June hijacking of the TWA airliner temporarily
altered AFF' coverage arrangements. With Nicosia working
round-the-clock, our bureau relinquished primary coverage
responsibility for the Middle East during those hours when Nicosia
would normally be closed. On the 26th, when Nicosia reverted to near
normal operating hours, Hong Kong returned to primary coverage of the
Middle East from 2230-0300 GMT. However, AFF' generally carries
little new reportage on the Middle East at those hours.
3. The first typhoon of the year, Hal, h i t Hong Kong on
24-25 June, but did not affect bureau operations or cause any antenna
damage. While the Consulate and much of Hong Kong was closed down on
the 24th, most bureau employees made it to work.
D. Communications
The bureau's new 300 baud circuit continued to operate
without any major difficulties during the month. Our technicians
continued to experiment with the high--speed Comscribe printers in an
effort to reduce paper slippage problems while using 5--ply roil
paper. We have proposed to Engineering Division some minor printer
modifications which our experiments indicate will improve the paper
feed and reduce slippage.
C. Lateral Services
1. At the request of the deputy principal officer at the
American Consulate in Guangzhou, we started pouching copies of most
PRC items normally wirefilied to Guangzhou. This was made necessary
by problems with the communications circuit into Guangzhou, which has
resulted in a communications minimize. The Consulate has indicated
that these problems may not be resolved for a number of months.
2? We received a message from the Consulate in Shanghai
summarizing an article in the 10 June SHIJIE JINGJI DAOBAO (World
Economic Herald). The message noted that the subject of the article
(price gouging and red tape faced by firms from other provinces
trying to do business in Shanghai) was dear to the hearts of U.S.
business firms in China, and recommended that. FBIS translate the full
text of the item. This was done the following day upon receipt of
the paper, with a copy pouched to Shanghai.
D. Technical.
Technicians from Hong Kong Telephone visited the bureau and
Mt. Butler to familarize themselves with our setup in connection with
the landline backup circuit we will be installing. Headquarters gave
approval to purchase locally the terminal equipment required for the
landline and a purchase contract is being worked up at this time.
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III. ADMINISTRATION
Personnel:
departed PCS for Seoul on 14 June.
2. Te.l eytp i st l gave notice of intent to resign
effective 25 July. Advertisements to fill the future vacancy have
been placed.
3. After weeks of back and forth arguments between the
Consulate and State Department, agreement was finally reached on the
percentage increase for the spring FSN pay raise. The Consulate will
be giving a 6.27. increase to all grades except 6, which will receive
1.1%. All of our employees, including grade 6, will receive the 6.27.
retroactive to 12 May.
Senior editor) from Dangk:ok: visited the bureau
on 4 June while on a private visit to Hong }:::ong.
Attachments:
Monthly Production Report
coca Original)/and 3 - Hqs
C/Bangkok
C/Okinawa
C/Seoul
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HONG KONG BUREAU PRODUCTION REPORT FOR JUN 1985
TOTAL
PUBLISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH:
1025380
TOTAL
NON-PUBLISHABLE WORDAGE FILED DURING MONTH:
91440
TOTAL
NUMBER OF PUBLISHABLE ITEMS FILED DURING MONTH:
1426
III. OUTPUT FROM ALL SOURCES:
(PUBLISHABLE WORDS PER MONTH)
BROAD- PRESS PUBLI-
CASTS AGENCIES CATIONS
CHINA
BEIJING INTERNATIONAL SERVICE IN
TAGALOG
14780
BEIJING TELEVISION SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
990
CHANGSHA HUNAN PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
21260
CHENGDU SICHUAN PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
9780
GUANGZHOU GUANGDONG PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
7330
GUIYANG GUIZHOU PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
3650
HAIKOU HAINAN ISLAND SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
1920
KUNMING YUNNAN POVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
6220
LANZHOU GANSU PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
8630
LHASA XIZANG REGIONAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
11380
NANNING GUANGXI REGIONAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN
13770
URUMQI XINJIANG REGIONAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN 5560
WUHAN HUBEI PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN 12190
XIAN SHAANXI PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN 2210
XINING QINGHAI PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN 2890
ZHENGZHOU HENAN PROVINCIAL SERVICE IN
MANDARIN 8020
BEIJING XINHUA HONG KONG SERVICE IN
CHINESE 1660
BEIJING ZHONGGUO XINWEN SHE IN
CHINESE 29560
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BEIJING BAN YUE TAN IN
CHINESE
4520
BEIJING BAOGAO WENXUE IN
CHINESE
0
BEIJING BEIJING REVIEW IN
ENGLISH
13540
BEIJING BEIJING WANBAO IN
CHINESE
0
BEIJING CHINA DAILY IN
ENGLISH
24950
BEIJING GONGREN RIBAO IN
CHINESE
2980
BEIJING GUMMING RIBAO IN
CHINESE
40130
BEIJING GUOJI SHANGBAO IN
CHINESE
4600
BEIJING GUOJI WENTI YANJIU IN
CHINESE
5250
BEIJING HONGQI IN
CHINESE
68780
BEIJING HUANQIU
CHINESE
0
BEIJING JIEFANGJUN WENYI IN
CHINESE
0
BEIJING JINGJI GUANLI IN
CHINESE
31510
BEIJING JINGJI RIBAO IN
CHINESE
10290
BEIJING JINGJIXUE ZHOUBAO IN
CHINESE
7010
BEIJING JINGJI YANJIU IN
CHINESE
30350
BEIJING LIAOWANG IN
CHINESE
19460
BEIJING LISHI YANJIU IN
CHINESE
0
BEIJING NONGMIN RIBAO IN
CHINESE
500
BEIJING RENMIN RIBAO IN
CHINESE
109870
BEIJING SHIJIE JINGJI IN
CHINESE
3380
BEIJING SHIJIE LISHI IN
CHINESE
BEIJING SHIJIE ZHISHI IN
CHINESE
BEIJING WENXUE PINGLUN IN
CHINESE
BEIJING WENYI BAO IN
CHINESE
BEIJING WENZHAI BAO IN
CHINESE
BEIJING XINWEN ZHANXIAN IN
CHINESE
BEIJING ZHEXUE YANJIU IN
CHINESE
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BEIJING ZHONGGUO FAZHI BAO IN
CHINESE
BEIJING ZHONGGUO QINGNIAN BAD IN
CHINESE
CHENGDU SICHUAN RIBAD IN
CHINESE
CHONGQING CHONGQING RIBAO IN
CHINESE
FUZHOU ZHONGGUO JINGJI WENTI IN
CHINESE
GUANGZHOU GUANGZHOU RIBAD IN
CHINESE
GUANGZHOU GUANGZHOU YANJIU IN
CHINESE
GUANGZHOU KAIFANG IN
CHINESE
GUANGZHOU NANFANG RIBAO IN
CHINESE
GUANGZHOU YANGCHENG WANBAO IN
CHINESE
HAIKOU HAINAN RIBAO IN
CHINESE
KUNMING YUNNAN RIBAO IN
CHINESE
LANZHOU LANZHOU WANBAO IN
CHINESE
SHANGHAI SHIJIE JINGJI DAOBAO IN
CHINESE
TAIYUAN SHANXI RIBAO IN
CHINESE
WUHAN CHANGJIANG RIBAO IN
CHINESE
WUHAN HUBEI RIBAO IN
CHINESE
XIAN SHAANXI RIBAD IN
CHINESE
YINCHUAN NINGXIA RIBAO IN
CHINESE
HONG KONG
HONG KONG ASIA TELEVISION LTD IN
CANTONESE
HONG KONG ASIA TELEVISION LTD IN
ENGLISH
HONG KONG TELEVISION BROADCAST LTD IN
ENGLISH
HONG KONG COMMERCIAL RADIO IN
ENGLISH
HONG KONG DOMESTIC SERVICE IN
ENGLISH
HONG KONG AFP IN
ENGLISH
HONG KONG AS I AWEEK I N
ENGLISH
1960
0
13760
14180
0
2000
27280
0
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HONG KONG CHANWANG IN
CHINESE
0
HONG KONG CHENG MING IN
CHINESE
9970
HONG KONG CHING PAO IN
CHINESE
0
HONG KONG CHIUSHIH NIENTAI IN
CHINESE
0
HONG KONG FAR EASTERN ECONOMIC REVIEW IN
ENGLISH
5350
HONG KONG HONG KONG STANDARD IN
ENGLISH
6660
HONG KONG HONG KONG STANDARD (BUSINESS STANDARD SUPPLEMENT) IN
ENGLISH
2460
HONG KONG HSIN WAN PAO IN
CHINESE
5010
HONG KONG KUANG CHIAO CHING IN
CHINESE
3400
HONG KONG MING PAO IN
CHINESE
2700
HONG KONG PAI HSING IN
CHINESE
20390
HONG KONG SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST IN
ENGLISH
20860
HONG KONG SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (BUSINESS NEWS SUPPLEMENT) IN
ENGLISH
20420
HONG KONG TA KUNG PAO IN
CHINESE
5780
HONG KONG TA KUNG PAO IN
ENGLISH
2220
HONG KONG WEN WEI PO IN
CHINESE
13290
NEW ZEALAND
WELLINGTON OVERSEAS SERVICE IN
ENGLISH
PHILIPPINES
MANILA FAR EAST BROADCASTING COMPANY IN
ENGLISH
14260
MANILA FAR EAST BROADCASTING COMPANY IN
TAGALOG
1220
MANILA RADIO VERITAS IN
TAGALOG
260
DAGUPAN CITY DZDL RADIO IN
TAGALOG
0
QUEZON CITY MAHARLIKA BROADCASTING SYSTEM IN
ENGLISH
17970
MANILA BULLETIN TODAY IN
ENGLISH 15320
MANILA BUSINESS DAY IN
ENGLISH 32970
MANILA METRO MANILA TIMES IN
ENGLISH 4860
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MANILA PHILIPPINES DAILY EXPRESS IN
ENGLISH
MANILA PHILIPPINES SUNDAY EXPRESS IN
ENGLISH
MANILA TIMES JOURNAL IN
ENGLISH
DAVAO CITY PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM IN
ENGLISH
DAVAO CITY SAN PEDRO EXPRESS IN
ENGLISH
DAVAO CITY THE MINDANAO MIRROR BULLETIN IN
ENGLISH
DAVAO CITY THE MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR IN
ENGLISH
QUEZON CITY ANG PAHAYAGANG MALAYA IN
ENGLISH
QUEZON CITY VERITAS IN
ENGLISH
180
0
17280
6110
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