HONG Kong could be transported back to the Qing Dynasty in technology terms if it fails to improve its control of imports and exports of sensitive technology.
The Cox report, written for the United States House of Representatives by a committee chaired by Congress member Christopher Cox, charged that Hong Kong was a place where missile components were illegally shipped labelled as 'dummy stores' and high-powered computer work stations had been transported to mainland technology institutes that did not exist.
The threat: that if technology usable for military ends was not subject to more effective controls, Hong Kong would lose its special access to US technology, and be subject to the same controls as the rest of China.
If that happened, even basic items such as the $15,000 Pentium III computers now crowding the stores could be more difficult to import.
Edward Yau Tang-wah, deputy director of trade, says the impact of withdrawal would be 'huge' and affect more than just researchers and engineers.
'It is only by having an effective system of control that we can have access to high-technology equipment to sustain industries such as finance and telecommunications,' he says.
