Hong Kong Riots in 1967

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Confrontation between British police forces and Hong Kong protesters; May 21, 1967

The unrest in Hong Kong in 1967 consisted of demonstrations , strikes and, in some cases, violent police operations and protests in what was then the British crown colony of Hong Kong .

causes

In more recent research, especially in recent British historiography , the causes for the outbreak of the violent conflict are viewed in a differentiated manner and mistakes made by the British colonial power are admitted. Working conditions in Hong Kong companies, most of which were British-owned, are described as inhumane and discriminatory. Low wages and daily working hours over 12 hours, even on weekends, were the norm; even child labor was still to be found in British colonial areas at the time. There were no labor rights, let alone employment contract or work safety laws.

The first demonstrations and riots began in March 1967 in Hong Kong shipping, taxi, textile and cement companies. This was preceded by the so-called Star Ferry protests against fare increases in 1966 . The violent unrest began in May 1967. According to British accounts at the time, the strikes were organized by members of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Union , all of whom are alleged to have been linked to the Chinese government in Beijing. In fact, as early as December 1966, unrest broke out in the Portuguese colony of Macau in the west of Hong Kong, in which intervention troops from the Portuguese army were deployed. However, after a general strike in January 1967, the Portuguese government decided to respond to several of the protesters' demands. Tensions in Hong Kong and Macau were undoubtedly fueled by the ongoing Cultural Revolution in mainland China .

In May, workers' fighting broke out in a Hong Kong Artificial Flower Works branch in San Po Kong . UK management fired over 300 women after they refused to work more than 12 hours a day at future lower wages. The entire workforce then stopped working. On May 6, 1967, 21 people were forcibly arrested and several pickets were injured by police forces. Various unions protested the arrests and demanded the release of the 21 workers. More protesters were arrested as a result of violent clashes at the police stations.

On May 16, the demonstrators formed a committee and appointed Yeung Kwong to chair the committee. The committee organized and coordinated a number of large demonstrations. Hundreds of supporters from various organizations protested from then on in front of the government buildings with boos , buzzwords and posters. At the same time, many Hong Kong residents went out of work, severely disrupting trade and services in Hong Kong. Further riots broke out on May 22, in which 167 people were arrested. More and more insurgents began to throw stones at police officers or passing vehicles.

On June 3, tens of thousands of Chinese took part in a large-scale demonstration that took place simultaneously on several streets in Hong Kong. Many of the protesters carried the " words of Chairman Mao Tsetung " in their left hand, calling for a "return to the motherland" and calling for the "reactionary British rule to be crushed". The Hong Kong Police Force responded by arresting another 127 people, imposing a curfew and mobilizing all police forces. In China, newspapers praised the activities of the demonstrators and described the actions of the British colonial government as "fascist atrocities". There were also protests in front of the British consulate in Beijing.

Peak of violence

British police forces march in front of a bus barricade; May 22, 1967

In late June, the protest committee called a general strike and a four-day boycott of British goods. On July 8, 1967, five British police officers were killed and eleven injured in a gun battle between British police and border guards of the People's Republic of China at Sha Tau Kok Police Station. Both sides later accused each other of opening fire first. Beijing's Renmin Ribao newspaper published articles in support of protesters in Hong Kong; British newspapers spread rumors that the People's Republic of China was preparing to take military control of the colony.

The governor of Hong Kong then declared a state of emergency , issued emergency orders that gave the police special powers. Various newspapers were banned, schools were closed, many demonstrators arrested, tortured or deported to the People's Republic of China. The opposition movement subsequently deposited several bombs in the city. Normal life was severely disrupted, and more and more deaths were to be lamented on both sides. According to the occupying forces, around 8,000 bombs had to be defused by the police and the British army . Every eighth bomb is said to have been real and the rest to have been dummies.

On July 19, activists barricaded the 20-story Bank of China (owned by the Chinese government) with barbed wire. In response, British police forcibly evacuated various protesters' strongholds. During a spectacular action, special forces stationed on the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes landed with a helicopter on the roof of the Kiu Kwan Mansion and combed the then largest Hong Kong skyscraper from top to bottom. They discovered bombs and weapons, as well as a "hospital" for the insurgents, in which there was a pharmacy and an operating room.

Various media were jointly responsible for the escalation. The British arrested and tortured pro-Chinese editors; Oppositionists burned a pro-British radio commentator in his car. Other prominent media figures who spoke out against the riots were also threatened, including Louis Cha , then chairman of the Ming Pao . The wave of bombings only subsided in October and ended in December 1967. The clashes lasted a total of 18 months.

The UK Sunday Times published a report in June 2007 that during the riots, People's Liberation Army commander Huang Yongsheng proposed an invasion and occupation of Hong Kong, but the then Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China, Zhou Enlai , rejected the plan. There is no evidence for these representations. Officially, both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) have always emphasized that they intended a peaceful reintegration of Hong Kong.

Victim

According to British information, a total of 51 people were killed, including five police officers. In addition, 800 demonstrators, 200 employees of the British police force, eleven officers, a British explosives expert and a firefighter suffered injuries. The British colonial power arrested 5,000 Hong Kong residents, and around 2,000 people were sentenced to prison terms. 15 people died in the bombings. The property damage amounted to several million dollars. Large parts of the Hong Kong population lost their trust in the British colonial power. Many residents sold their property, left Hong Kong and joined the Chinese diaspora .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Bickers, Ray Yep: May Days in Hong Kong. Riot and Emergency in 1967. Hong Kong University Press, 2009, p. 16 f.
  2. ↑ Old Hong Kong & History , accessed February 25, 2018
  3. ↑ Junius P. Rodriguez: The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery. Volume 1 to 7. ABC-CLIO, 1997, p. 404.
  4. ↑ Scott Ian. (1989) Political Change and the Crisis of Legitimacy in Hong Kong. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1269-7
  5. ↑ Pan, Chao-ying. De, Raymond J. [1968] (1968). Beijing's Red Guard: The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Twin Circle Publishing House
  6. ↑ a b c d HKchcc fired. " Hkchcc.org ." Old Hong Kong & History. Retrieved December 18, 2007.
  7. ↑ Wiltshire, Trea. (Republished and reduced in 2003) [First published in 1987]. Old Hong Kong - Volume Three. Central, Hong Kong: Asia Ltd text form field Page 12 Books. ISBN 962-7283-61-4 Volume Three
  8. ↑ No Need for More Troops Hong Kong . In: The Times , p. 4. ISSN 0140-0460 .   
  9. ↑ Sinclair, Kevin & Ng, Nelson. [First published in 1997]. Asia's Finest Marches On, Hong Kong: Kevin Sinclair Associated Ltd page 49. ISBN 962-85130-2-8
  10. ↑ Shimakawa, Karen. [2001] (2001). Orientations: Mapping Studies in the Asian Diaspora. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2739-2
  11. ↑ a b Chu, Yingchi. [2003] (2003). Hong Kong Cinema: Colonizer, Home and Self. Routledge Publishing House. ISBN 0-7007-1746-3
  12. ↑ Michael Sheridan: Revealed: the Hong Kong invasion plan , The Sunday Times , June 24, 2007 (via archive.org)
  13. ^ Gary Ka-wai Cheung: Hong Kong's Watershed. The 1967 Riots. Hong Kong University Press, 2009, p. 53.
  14. ↑ Smith, Steve 3-2-1 Bomb Gone -. Combating Terrorist Bombers in Northern Ireland Sutton Publishing 2006 ISBN 0-7509-4205-3