1967 Hong Kong riots

The initial demonstrations and riots were labour disputes that began as early as May 1967 in shipping, taxi, textile, cement companies and in particular the Hong Kong Artificial Flower Works, where there were 174 pro-communist trade unionists.[3] The unions that took up the cause were all members of the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions with strong ties to Beijing.[4]

The political climate was tense in Hong Kong in the spring of 1967. To the north of the British colony's border, the PRC was in turmoil. Red Guards carried out purges and engaged in infighting, while the 12-3 incident sponsored by pro-Communists erupted in the Portuguese colony of Macau, to the west of Hong Kong, in December 1966.

Despite the intervention of the Portuguese army, order was not restored to Macau; and after a general strike in January 1967, the Portuguese government agreed to meet many of the left-wing demands, placing the colony under the de facto control of the PRC.[5] The tension in Hong Kong was heightened by the ongoing Cultural Revolution to the north. Up to 31 protests were held.[6]

In May, a labour dispute broke out in a factory producing artificial flowers in San Po Kong.[7][8]

Picketing workers clashed with management, and riot police were called in on 6 May. In violent clashes between the police and the picketing workers, 21 workers were arrested; many more were injured. Representatives from the union protested at police stations, but were themselves also arrested.

The next day, large-scale demonstrations erupted on the streets of Hong Kong. Many of the pro-communist demonstrators carried Little Red Books in their left hands and shouted communist slogans. The Hong Kong Police Force engaged with the demonstrators and arrested another 127 people.[9] A curfew was imposed and all police forces were called into duty.[10]

In the PRC, newspapers praised the demonstrators' activities, calling the British colonial government's actions "fascist atrocities".[11]

In Hong Kong's Central District, large loudspeakers were placed on the roof of the Bank of China Building, broadcasting pro-communist rhetoric and propaganda, prompting the British authorities to retaliate by putting larger speakers blaring out Cantonese opera.[10] Posters were put up on walls with slogans like "Blood for Blood", "Stew the White-Skinned Pig", "Fry The Yellow Running Dogs", "Down With British Imperialism" and "Hang David Trench", a reference to the then Governor.[12] Students distributed newspapers carrying information about the disturbances and pro-communist rhetoric to the public.

On 16 May, the activists formed the Hong Kong and Kowloon Committee for Anti-Hong Kong British Persecution Struggle.[13] Yeung Kwong of the Federation of Trade Unions was appointed as its chairman. The Committee organised and coordinated a series of large demonstrations. Hundreds of supporters from 17 different leftist organisations demonstrated outside Government House, chanting communist slogans.[14] At the same time, many workers took strike action, with Hong Kong's transport services being particularly badly disrupted.

More violence erupted on 22 May, with another 167 people being arrested. The rioters began to adopt more sophisticated tactics, such as throwing stones at police or vehicles passing by, before retreating into left-wing "strongholds" such as newspaper offices, banks or department stores once the police arrived. Casualties began soon after. At least 8 deaths of the protestors were recorded before 1 July, mostly shot or beaten to death by the police (see the incomplete list of deceased below).

On the afternoon of the Sha Tau Kok incident, police officers stood guard at the cordon outpost. A military helicopter arrived at the scene to conduct low-altitude reconnaissance.

On 8 July, several hundred demonstrators from the PRC, including members of the People's Militia, crossed the frontier at Sha Tau Kok and attacked the Hong Kong Police, of whom five were shot dead and eleven injured in the brief exchange of fire.[15] The People's Daily in Beijing ran editorials supporting the left-wing struggle in Hong Kong; rumours that the PRC was preparing to take over control of the colony began to circulate. The leftists tried in vain to organise a general strike; attempts to persuade the ethnic Chinese serving in the police to join the pro-communist movement were equally unsuccessful.

The Communists began planting bombs, as well as decoys, throughout the city. Normal life was severely disrupted and casualties began to rise. An eight-year-old girl, Wong Yee Man, and her two-year-old brother, Wong Siu Fan, were killed by a bomb wrapped like a gift placed outside their residence.[16] Bomb disposal experts from the police and the British forces defused as many as 8000 home-made bombs, of which 1100 were found to be real.[17] These were known as "pineapple" bombs.[18][1]

The Hong Kong Government imposed emergency regulations, granting the police special powers in an attempt to quell the unrest. Left-wing newspapers were banned from publishing; Communist schools alleged to be bomb-making factories, such as Chung Wah Middle School, were shut down; many activist leaders were arrested and detained, and some of them were later deported to China.

On 19 July, demonstrators set up barbed wire defences on the 20-storey Bank of China Building (owned by the PRC government).[19]

In response, the police fought back and raided activist strongholds, including Kiu Kwan Mansion.[18] In one of the raids, helicopters from HMS Hermes – a Royal Navy aircraft carrier – landed police on the roof of the building.[20] Upon entering the building, the police discovered bombs and weapons, as well as a leftist "hospital" complete with dispensary and an operating theatre.[9]

The public outcry against the violence was widely reported in the media, and the activists again switched tactics. On 24 August, Lam Bun, a popular anti-activist radio commentator, was murdered by a death squad posing as road maintenance workers as he drove to work with his cousin; prevented from getting out of his car, he was burned alive.[21]

Other prominent figures of the media who had voiced opposition against the riots were also threatened, including Louis Cha, then chairman of the Ming Pao newspaper, who left Hong Kong for almost a year before returning.

The waves of bombings did not subside until October 1967. In December, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the left-wing groups in Hong Kong to stop all bombings; and the riots in Hong Kong finally came to an end. The disputes in total lasted 18 months.[22]

It became known much later that, during the riots, the commander of PLA's Guangzhou Military Region Huang Yongsheng (one of Lin Biao's top allies) secretly suggested invading and occupying Hong Kong, but his plan was vetoed by Zhou Enlai.[23]

The Hong Kong Police Force was applauded for its behaviour during the riots by the British Government. In 1969, Queen Elizabeth granted the force the privilege of the "Royal" title. This remained in use until the end of British rule in 1997.[32]

Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing went on to become Hong Kong's most important Chinese real estate developer.[33] Chinese philosopher and educator Chien Mu, founder of the New Asia College (now part of the Chinese University of Hong Kong), left for Taiwan.[34] He was appointed to the Council for Chinese Cultural Renaissance by President Chiang Kai-shek.[35]

In mid-September 2015, media reported that the Hong Kong Police had made material deletions from its website concerning "police history", in particular, the political cause and the identity of the groups responsible for the 1967 riots, with mention of communists and Maoists being expunged.

For example, "Bombs were made in classrooms of left-wing schools and planted indiscriminately on the streets" became "Bombs were planted indiscriminately on the streets"; the fragment "waving aloft the Little Red Book and shouting slogans" disappeared, and an entire sentence criticising the hypocrisy of wealthy pro-China businessmen, the so-called "red fat cats" was deleted.[36]

The editing gave rise to criticisms that it was being sanitised, to make it appear that the British colonial government, rather than activists, were responsible. Stephen Lo, the new Commissioner of Police, said the content change of the official website was to simplify it for easier reading; Lo denied that there were any political motives, but his denials left critics unconvinced.[37] The changes were subsequently reversed.

• In John Woo's action movie Bullet in the Head, the 1967 Riots are briefly shown.
• In the play/film I Have a Date with Spring, the riots (although only briefly referenced) are a key plot point.
• Wong Kar Wai's movie 2046 features backdrop of the riots, mentions of the riots and a few old newsreels of the rioting.
• The film about modern Hong Kong history Mr.Cinema depicts the riots.

• 1960s in Hong Kong
• Chung Wah Middle School
• Chung Ying Street
• Hong Kong 1956 riots
• Hong Kong 1966 riots
• Spring Garden Lane
• 1971 JVP Insurrection, in Ceylon, (now Sri Lanka, South Asia, Asia)
• Hong Kong 1981 riots
• 12-3 incident
• Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

• Cooper, John (1970). Colony in Conflict: The Hong Kong Disturbances, May 1967-January 1968. Hong Kong: Swindon Book Company. ASIN B009M72TM4. OCLC 833430183.
• Bickers, Robert; Yep, Ray (1 August 2009). May Days in Hong Kong: Riot and Emergency in 1967. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622099999.
• Cheung, Gary Ka-wai (1 October 2009). Hong Kong's Watershed: The 1967 Riots. Hong Kong University Press. ISBN 9789622090897.
• Whitehead, Kate (22 April 2017). "1967 riots in Hong Kong, by some of those caught up in the violence". South China Morning Post.
• Ho, Ka-ki, Lawrence (2009), Policing the 1967 riots in Hong Kong : Strategies, rationales and implications (PDF), doi:10.5353/th_b4419393, archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2019 - PhD thesis of the University of Hong Kong

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hong Kong 1967 riots.

• Remaking Hong Kong, the 1967 People's Revolution
• The Sha Tau Kok Incident 1967