[1967 riots paper clippings] 1-10 July 1967 (English)

 SCMP, 1 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Civil Defence Plan May Be Reviewed

Government might review its plan for civil defence in view of the recent disturbances, Mr B. V. Williams, the Defence Secretary, said last night at the inaugural meeting of the Hongkong Branch of the Institute of Civil Defence.

The plan for civil defence formulated six years ago did not apply to the present circumstances, and the Defence Branch of the Colonial Secretariat might review it in consultation with the various local essential services corps, he added.

He stressed the Defence Branch aimed at keeping plans for civil defence up-to-date.

Mr Williams said that the recent disturbances heralded a “bright future” for Civil Aid Service units and they would have increasingly important roles to play in future.

***

SCMP, 1 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Extracts From The Chinese Press
Left-wing Actions Denounced

ALL Hongkong’s independent and non-leftist Chinese newspapers this week unanimously denounced the local Communists' strike attempts.

They described the move as a big failure not only were public utilities not paralysed as the leftists claimed but the food supply was also little affected.

The Sing Tao Wan Pao said the leftists had resorted to the “most depraved, unpopular policy” of bribing workers to strike.

The Sing Tao Wan Pao noted that those involved in the current “four-day food strike” were China products companies, herbalists’ shops and other trades that imported livestock, eggs and vegetables from China.

Left-wing elements were causing trouble only to the Chinese masses here, said the paper.

- FUND-RAISING -

The Tin Tin Yat Po said the leftists had called on printers to join in the strike, yet the left-wing papers were publishing as usual. What was more, they carried advertisements to offset costs.

Several papers which had started fund-raising campaigns to help transport workers who refused to join the strike said they were most heartened by the enthusiastic response.

The Wah Kiu Man Po described the continuous flow of contributions as an “automatic and spontaneous move” by the public, which was far different from leftist bribes to buy workers.

The Truth Daily said its “One-Dollar Campaign” was very well supported.

The New Life Evening Post suggested recruiting the thousands of new school-leavers to fill posts vacated by left-wing strikers.

These young people, the paper said, could become a powerful stabilising force in various utilities and productive enterprises.

- WATER SUPPLY -

Commenting on the alternate day water supply restrictions, the Sing Tao said citizens should no longer harbour any illusions about additional water from China.

The paper said it was confident that the present crisis would be over shortly and when the Plover Cove reservoir came into use the millions of dollars now being spent to buy water from China could be diverted to the construction of yet another reservoir.

The left-wing newspapers continued their sirike calls and published several joint specials on the strike as well as Peking’s latest protest over the situation in Hongkong.

***

SCMP, 1 Jul 1967 (Page 14)

Dockyard Workers Guilty Of Unlawful Assembly

Mr T. L. von Pokorny, at North Kowloon Court yesterday, convicted 16 workers of the Yaumati Government Dockyard on charges of unlawful assembly and false imprisonment of Mr C. E. Hulse, the Assistant Director of Marine.

The Magistrate ruled that the defendants were clearly members of an unlawful assembly who had prevented Mr. Hulse from leaving the dockyard on June 1. Their behaviour was aggressive, Mr Pokorny added.

He also pointed out that one of the defendants, Wong Chi-yiu, played a most active part on several occasions. Wong had made several dealings with Mr Hulse and other senior officers in the dockyard.

The 16 men were remanded in jail custody until Monday for sentence.

Mr Pokorny also remanded to Monday Yau Tak (50), who had given himself up to the police and who had pleaded guilty to the charges.

Mr A. J. Corrigan, Crown Counsel, prosecuted. 

***

SCMP, 1 Jul 1967 (Page 14)

FACTORY WORKER SENT TO JAIL

Mr P. M. Corfe, at Central Court yesterday, sentenced a 26-year-old factory worker seven months' jail for taking part in an unlawful assembly in Statue Square on May 21.

Cheung Ngar-yee, had been remanded until yesterday for various reports.

***

SCMP, 1 Jul 1967 (Page 14)

Leftists Lose Out As Supplies Of Food Improve

Left-wing elements lost another round in their efforts to freeze food markets in the Colony when supplies of pork and beef improved greatly yesterday and vegetables were plentiful.

Leftists have described their four-day suspension of food as “official,” but yesterday suppliers of preserved food from Eastern China, especially Shanghai, could be seen carrying on business behind half-closed doors although the shop windows were completely boarded up.

A Government spokesman said last night that the authorities could be “nothing but pleased” at the way market stall holders and hawkers had continued to serve the public.

The situation was much better than it was on Thursday, said Mr J. R. Locking, of the Colonial Secretariat. There had been an overall improvement in nearly all fields.

Perhaps in pork we have suffered a little, but this has been more than made up by the versatility of providers in the New Territories and the salesmen in the town, he added.

Food merchants said local supplies of fresh pork, fish and poultry could be increased substantially if necessary.

It is expected that the improvement in supplies will be maintained today.

Although abattoirs killed only about a fifth of their normal supply, killings at Mataukok abattoir almost doubled compared with Thursday, while killings at Kennedy Town also increased.

Consumption of fresh pork during the day amounted to more than 1,000 head.

- A Glut -

The fish situation was so good that in some instances there as actually a glut. The 1,340 piculs of fish landed at the Cheungshawan fish market represented a record for that market. In addition, 440 piculs were landed at Aberdeen and 380 at Shaukiwan.

Supplies of vegetables from the New Territories sold at Cheungshawan in the morning totalled 4,500 piculs. So much vegetable had been delivered that a special auction was held in the evening to dispose of the excess.

Beef dropped in price from $5 to $4.80 a catty. Supplies of beef from overseas were landed as normal and butchers turned increasingly to beef rather than pork. Housewives also appeared to be buying more beef.

- Markets -

There was no significant change in the situation regarding either market stall or hawkers. About 70 per cent of the market stalls were operating while the number of hawkers doing business was normal for a rainy day.

Many housewives turned to shops supplying frozen meats, especially pork, causing a booming trade in imported food.

Agents for the official Chinese marketing agency disclosed that they were against any more than a four-day suspension of supplies as they feared that supplies from other sources, such as places in Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand might take over their established markets here.

Unloading was held up on several junks which had come from Macao. Their cargoes included fruit.

***

SCMP, 1 Jul 1967 (Page 14)

TWO MEN ACCUSED OF OBSTRUCTING POLICE AT GAS DEPOT

The production engineer of the Hongkong and China Gas Co, Ltd, yesterday testified in court that he saw an employee, iron bar in hand, mounting guard for workers who were putting up posters on the company’s buildings.

Mr James D. K. Dagge was testifying against two employees of the gas company before Mr T. L. Pokorny, at North Kowloon Court, on two charges of obstruction.

The defendants are Man Chiu and Wong Ming, charged with obstructing Mr Michael Illingworth, Chief Superintendent of Police, while he sought to remove inflammatory posters, and obstructing a police officer in the exercise of this duty.

He pleaded not guilty.

Mr Dagge said he arrived at the company’s plant on June 8 and saw about 50 workers gathered round the main gates which were closed. He was allowed into the plant but after he drove in the gates were locked.

- Shovel Car -

Later in the day, he saw workers putting up posters on buildings in the plant. He saw Man Chiu, iron bar in hand, mounting guard for those who were putting up the posters.

Mr Dagge said that in the afternoon he toured the plant and saw the mechanical shovel for carrying coal being removed from its original place to the watchman’s house. He saw Man Chiu driving the shovel car to the gate.

Witness said that Wong Ming was also near the gate, directing other workers to positions along the gate. He said that later the crowd dispersed and he presumed the police had arrived.

Hearing will continue today.

Mr R. Wilcox, Crown Counsel, prosecuted. Man Chiu is represented by Mr J. Wilner.

***

SCMP, 1 Jul 1967 (Page 18)

Anti-Hongkong Rally

Macao, June 30.

About 3,000 women leftists held an anti-Hongkong demonstration today, carrying an effigy of His Excellency the Officer Administering the Hongkong Government, Mr M. D. I. Gass, through the streets of the city, — From Our Own Correspondent.

***

SCMP, 2 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

Shipyard staff attacked by workers

A group of about 4_ workers attacked the management staff at the shipyard of the American Marine Ltd at Junk Bay at about 5 pm yesterday.

After throwing stones and bottles at the staff, the workers boarded a lorry and headed in the direction of Clearwater Bay Road.

On the way, they were met by a police party which had been sent to deal with the trouble.

The police party gave chase. When the lorry reached Carpenter Road outside Block 23 of Tung Tau resettlement estate, it suddenly stopped and all those on board jumped out. One youth was arrested.

The police seized a quantity of iron bars, choppers and a number of bottles containing what appeared to be petrol from the lorry.

***

SCMP, 2 Jul 1967 (Page 3)

Inflammatory posters removed

Inflammatory posters outside banks and left-wing organisations in Central District have been taken down, a survey yesterday showed.

However, posters about Chairman Mao Tse-tung were still prominently displayed. Portraits of the Chinese leader were also featured in all major left-wing newspapers.

There were no captions to the pictures but in the inside pages were stories hailing the success of the present strikes.

Meanwhile, the Motor Transport Free Workers’ Union has offered to help drivers with new licences find employment.

A union official said many taxi firms were seeking the assistance of the union to find new drivers.

It was learned that many members of the union who had received $500 last week for going on strike were yesterday looking for odd-jobs to do.

They said they spent their income from the “Struggle Committee” while idling away at home and playing mahjong.

***

SCMP, 2 Jul 1967 (Page 10)

THE RIGHT WAY?

THERE are many people in Hongkong who have expressed a degree of unease at the continuing suggestions that the public should donate to funds to provide extra benefits for loyal workers.

This disquiet was aroused when the Police Children’s Education Fund was set up, and now suggestions have been made to raise a similar fund for public utility employees who stuck to their jobs in the face of vicious intimidation and blatant bribes.

While subscribing to these feelings of qualm, we hasten to add that we feel that the rewards offered have been justly earned and we do not question the sincerity of those who have put forward or adopt the proposals.

Our concern centres on the question of whether a publicly subscribed fund is the right way to help workers who refuse to bow to political pressure or threats of violence.

There is not the slightest doubt that the public of Hongkong has considerable cause to be grateful that there are men and women who have the courage and loyalty to ignore the blandishments of those out only to provoke trouble for trouble’s sake. And the public has rightly expressed its concern for the welfare of these men and for the future well-being of their families.

These are real problems— and they are problems that must be faced up to soon; they have been ignored or half dealt with too often in the past and the time has come when some effective solutions are urgently needed.

The traditional methods of expressing appreciation for a good job—-the gifts of cigarettes and tea and the letters and calls of thanks—are well within the bounds of public gratitude.

But surely the proper solution to the wider questions lies with the individual companies and organisations—the question of paying employees a fair day’s wages for a fair day's work, of giving him decent working conditions, of assuring him job security, and of giving him the means of reaching and enjoying a higher standard of living.

Recently we have heard much—perhaps too much—talk about these things, and there seems a general unanimity that these things need to be done.

But where is the action? Where are the statements that these matters are being dealt with NOW?

It would be easy to get the impression that these ready choruses of agreement are merely a word curtain, and that when calmer times return, the status quo will be maintained.

Private industry is—with some notable exceptions—all too complacent; it should not be waiting for Government to raise high the lamp of enlightenment to show the way. Many employers seem to think that laws and regulations are maximums—they are in fact minimum requirements for the protection of employees.

The time to act has passed—it is time to catch up with 1967. Deeds, not words will express a community's gratitude to its work force in a more lasting and more beneficial way.

***

SCMP, 3 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

ARRESTED YOUTH RELEASED

A youth who was arrested in the Wongtaisin resettlement area on Saturday after an incident at Junk Bay was released yesterday.

A Government spokesman said last night that no charge had been brought against the youth.

The spokesman said that Police enquiries into the incident in which a group of about 40 workers attacked the management staff at the shipyard of the American Marine Ltd at Junk Bay on Saturday, were continuing. No further arrest had been made, he added.

It was learned that following the attack on the shipyard staff, the workers boarded a lorry and headed in the direction of Clear Water Bay Road. The lorry stopped in the Tung Tau resettlement estate and the workers jumped off. The youth was subsequently arrested.

***

SCMP, 3 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

More Men Join Auxiliary Police

Increasing numbers of young men have joined the Hongkong Auxiliary Police Force to assist the regular police in maintaining law and order.

A police spokesman said yesterday that about 800 men had applied to join the force since the disturbances started in Kowloon last month.

In the past, there had been an average of 50 applications a month.

The strength of the force was now 2,500, but it was expected the total would rise to 3,000 before the end of the year.

A two-day recruiting drive held in the Auxiliary Police Club in Beaconsfield House on June 29 and 30 attracted 143 applicants.

The spokesman added that a temporary recruiting centre would be set up in the Java Road Housing Estate on Thursday and Friday.

***

SCMP, 3 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

(Members of Fanling’s new Mutual Security Squad, formed to deal with any leftist-inspired trouble, at the inauguration ceremony at Luen Wo Hui. They are wearing dark blue arm-bands. )

SECURITY GROUP FORMED

The Fanling District Public Security Advancement Association, the sixth of its kind to be formed in the New Territories to combat the activities of leftist trouble-makers and to safeguard the interests of the community in the area, was installed at Luen Wo Hui, Fanling yesterday.

Addressing a large gathering, Mr T. J. Bedford, District Officer, Taipo, said that three more similar associations would be formed later this week at Sheng Shui, Taipo and Shatin.

He paid tribute to the community leaders of Luen Wo Hui for their civic-mindedness.

He said the people had also demonstrated clearly that they were fully appreciative of the importance of combining their mutual efforts to preserve the peace, prosperity, happiness and progress of the community.

He assured the people that Government would fully support the Association as much as possible to prevent undesirable elements from causing trouble in the area.

Mr Pang Fu-wah, President of the Association, said it had a membership of about 30,000. A total of 90 members had formed a Mutual Security Squad to deal with any trouble should it arise.

***

SCMP, 3 Jul 1967 (Page 12)

LEFTIST BANKS HAVE THEIR FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES

Banks in Hongkong which have affiliations with Peking are reliably reported to be undergoing difficulties caused by some falling-off in deposits from Communist wholesale and retail houses and substantial withdrawals by customer export-import firms and individuals.

It is strongly rumoured within banking circles that the small banks, numbering about 13, have asked the Bank of China to help them maintain cash liquidity, writes our Business Editor.

It must, however, be stated that no confirmation can be obtained.

- Deposits Drop -

According to the reports there has been a falling-off of deposits with trading banks which come under the aegis of the Communists because their depositors, like others, wanted more cash in hand at this period.

Trading of Communist stores and other agencies concerned with imports and re-exports from China has declined, and this is reflected in lowered banking deposits.

The size of the bankers' problem cannot be determined with any accuracy, but investigations reveal that there is some substance in the reports.

There is reason to believe that the Bank of China has been buying rather less sterling in the last two or three weeks than it has normally bought.

- Holding Dollars -

One reason may be that the Communist banks, like other banks, have recently thought it advisable to hold more HK dollar notes in order to meet day-to-day demands.

Financial experts say the purchasing or sale of sterling or any other foreign currency can be undertaken only with the approval of Peking.

There is no doubt that the import trade from China and the retail trade of Communist stores has suffered a decline quite apart from the self-imposed handicap of “token” strikes.

A check on railway movements and a watch on stores has confirmed this.

- Foodstuffs -

Some trainloads of products— mainly foodstuffs—from China were sent back by rail because consignees refused to accept delivery. Developments yesterday, however, suggested that meat deliveries will soon be back to normal.

As for the Communist department stores, one typical emporium which normally does “roaring” business, on a recent night had fewer than 50 customers.

On the other hand the leftist trade establishments still have to meet wage bills for thousands of employees, as well as other overheads.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

Kowloon Shooting Incident
POLICE OPEN FIRE AT UNRULY MOB

Police were forced to open fire last night when a large crowd, estimated at about 1,000, gathered outside the branch office of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in Shamshuipo, Kowloon, refused to disperse.

The crowd had been stoning the bank premises. A police vehicle which had arrived at the scene earlier in response to an alarm at the bank, was also stoned.

The incident occurred shortly after 9,30 pm when the police arrived on the scene following a report from a member of the public that a large crowd had gathered outside the bank's branch in Laichikok Road near Nam Cheong Street.

On their arrival, a party of police from the Shamshuipo Police Station saw a large crowd blocking the road outside the bank and a police vehicle surrounded by another crowd.

The crowd was repeatedly asked to disperse but the requests were ignored.

A shot was then fired from a Greener gun. As a result a woman and a man were slightly injured and the crowd started to disperse.

The woman, 52-year-old Kwok Tak-wing, sustained injuries on the right thigh and the man, 39-year-old Ma Wan-chu, was wounded on the lower left leg. Both were sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where they were detained for treatment.

It is believed a youth was also slightly injured in the incident.

A report received by the Police alleged that the youth was taken by some people into a nearby left-wing union premises after he had been injured.

Police enquiries are continuing.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

DENIAL BY STUDENTS’ UNION

The University of Hongkong Students' Union yesterday denied the existence of an “anti-persecution committee” in the union.

The denial followed allegations in left-wing newspapers that such a committee had been formed.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Kaifongs To Establish Fund-raising Body

A special committee will be formed today to collect donations for distribution to public utility workers who remained on their jobs during the strikes.

A meeting will be called by the Hongkong and Kowloon Joint Kaifong Research Council to organise the committee and to discuss details of the campaign at the Ying King Restaurant at 1 pm today.

Mr Lee Wan-yuen, Chairman of the Council, said representatives from a number of English and Chinese newspapers and radio stations had been invited to become members of the committee.

The new committee would collect donations already received by some newspapers and radio stations. It would also appeal for more contributions from the public.

The committee would then decide how to distribute the money to the utility workers.

Mr Lee said the committee would also consider applications from private firms and factories to give some of the donations to their workers if the committee had sufficient funds.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

LEFTIST CHEQUES HANDED TO GOVERNMENT VOLUNTARILY

A number of cheques handed out by leftists for work stoppages are reported to have been received by Government through voluntary surrender by the recipients.

Some of the cheques—for sums ranging from $200 to $500—were paid for “services rendered” during past disturbances.

Others were post-dated.

A noticeable feature of the cheques is that apart from the normal account number they also carry a second number.

It is believed that the extra number identifies the persons to whom the cheques are issued and acts as a check against lists the Communists hold of likely disturbance participants.

It is believed also that, should a recipient of a cheque fail to meet the “contract,” the bank on which the cheque is drawn is ordered to stop payment.

Political observers note that the use of cheques is a recent technique adopted by local leftists while early in the May rioting incitement payments were made in cash.

Workers and labourers employed by transport companies normally engaged in delivering Chinese goods were ordered by the “Anti-Struggle Committee” yesterday to return to work.

At the same time, the Committee issued a statement urging the workers to surrender their wages and the owners of the companies their delivery fees to support future strikes according to reports in three local left-wing newspapers.

Those who failed to comply with these requests would be regarded as “saboteurs,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, more support for Government’s policy in the present troubles was expressed yesterday.

Three civic leaders from the island of Peng Chau called at the headquarters of the New Territories Administration yesterday to present a letter conveying the support of the Peng Chau Chamber of Commerce for Government's policy in maintaining peace and order.

They are Mr Yue Yuet-hing, Chairman of the Peng Chau Chamber of Commerce, Mr Yue Wing-cheung, Vice-Chairman, and Mr Lam Shu-chun, Chairman of the Peng Chau Rural Committee, who is one of the two Vice-Chairmen of the Heung Yee Kuk.

- Unwavering -

The visitors handed the letter to Mr J. C. C. Walden, Deputy District Commissioner, New Territories, and requested it to be transmitted to His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government.

During a discussion, Mr Lam said that by now all societies in Peng Chau had given their unwavering support for Government, a fact which clearly demonstrated how Peng Chau residents had expressed their concern for law and order. The Hongkong Economic Association has sent a letter to the Director of Information Services expressing its “high appreciation” of Government’s efforts in maintaining peace and order in the Colony.

It expressed full support for any measure taken by Government to prevent disturbances.

Support came also from the Hongkong Chinese Footballers’ Fraternity.

In a letter to the Colonial Secretary, the organisation said: “Under the present situation strong action must be taken to ensure the immediate return to law and order.”

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

WANTED BY THE POLICE

The Police are looking for six men in connection with an incident in the premises of the American Marine Ltd at Hang Hau in Junk Bay last Saturday, during which two members of the company were menaced by about 50 workers.

Following the incident police recovered some weapons from two of the company’s lorries.

The wanted men were named by the police as Kwok Wa-wing (23), Ling Cheuk (23), Chan Kin-keung (23), Chan Ho (20), Yuen Kwong-yee (40) and Tang Shek-kwan (36).

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Docks Executive Forced To Retreat At Spear Point

Mr J. Cassels, General Manager of the Taikoo Dockyard, told Judge D. Cons at the Victoria District Court yesterday that a worker had pointed a home-made iron spear at him while another struck at his left leg with a piece of metal.

Extra policemen were stationed in the vicinity of the Supreme Court building when six men appeared before Judge Cons on charges of rioting. Relatives of the six men started to weep when they were led into the dock.

The six men are Szeto Wah-chung, alias Szeto Yiu-chung, Tse Tung, Tang Kam, Lo Ham, Lam Kwok-leung and Cheng Wah. Szeto is additionally charged with criminal intimidation and assault.

Lo is represented by Mr Peter Chan, instructed by Mr David Tsang.

- Surrounded -

Mr. Cassels testified that when he returned to work on June 6 he was informed by a senior staff member of his company that the launch crew was staging a strike.

He said about 30 to 40 workers surrounded him and Mr J. R. Baillie, the Foreman Engineer, when they were outside the Transport Office. They were then joined by Mr T. K. Duncan, the Shipyard Manager.

The crowd was not hostile at that time.

Shortly afterwards, three senior European staff members of the dockyard and two New Zealanders, who were not staff members, were marched into the ring by armed escorts.

Mr Cassels said that the two New Zealanders were accused by the workmen of taking photographs of them but, in fact, neither of them had a camera. They had been standing on a roof to see a newly-painted vessel.

While they were surrounded, a worker, Yee Shiu, shouted slogans and waved his fist at them.

At this stage, a worker, armed with an iron bar, pushed himself into the ring and attempted to assault him (Mr Cassels) but was stopped by other workers.

- Others Armed -

Later, a welder, whom Mr Cassels identified as Leung Yat, pointed a home-made spear at his body and forced him to walk backwards for about 12 spaces.

“When I turned round, I noticed several other armed workers behind me,” Mr Cassels said.

Shortly afterwards he was informed by the crowd that he and the other staff members were being held by the “Anti-Persecution Committee.”

- Three Demands -

Mr Cassels said that the workers then submitted to him the following three demands:

—The management of the dockyard must allow them to put up as many posters in the yard as they like.

—The management should protect the workers from the police.

—The management should accept or dismiss workers as listed by the “Anti-Persecution Committee.”

Mr Cassels said he and Mr Duncan signed the three demands after they had failed to talk things over with the workers.

One of them read the signed demands to the other workers and they began chanting slogans. Mr Cassels and the others were then released.

Mr Cassels said he did not call the police because he feared an outbreak of violence.

On June 11, Mr Cassels said, together with other European staff members, he searched the vicinity of' the yard and found a quantity of weapons, including iron spears.  They were handed over to the police.

Mr Duncan described an experience he had when a labourer swung a spade-like object at him but missed.

- Wave Spears -

He said that during the morning of June 6 workers were moving about in the yard in the company’s lorries and some of them were waving spears. 

“The crowd was very hostile, shouting slogans and waving their fists. They were not friendly at all,” Mr Duncan said.

Hearing continues this morning.

Mr Ross Pennington and Mr E. Soh, Crown Counsel, are prosecuting.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

HAS RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH, SAYS HAWKER

A hawker charged in Central Court with making an inflammatory speech told Mr E. Light, the magistrate, yesterday that he had a right to free speech.

The defendant, Auyeung Yuk-yin (37) is alleged to have made the speech in Kam Hong Street, North Point, on June 21.

Mr Light said there were limits to free speech. The words attributed to Auyeung could incite violence, disobedience to the law and lead to breaches of the peace, he said.

Auyeung admitted making the statements but insisted he had a right to do so.

Mr Light remanded him until July 10 for a psychiatric report.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Thirty-seven Deny Rioting Charge

Thirty-seven people who had pleaded not guilty to unlawful assembly at the Hongkong and Kowloon Rubber and Plastics Union premises on June 23 were yesterday additionally charged with rioting.

Appearing before Mr F. de F. Stratton at North Kowloon Court, all the defendants, including two women, pleaded not guilty to the new charge.

Five of them—Ho Chow, Ho Hing, Ho Fat-kuen, Ho Ton and Yim Cheong-keung—were represented by Mr Lawrence Leong, on the instructions of David Tsang and Co. Their cases will be heard at South Kowloon Court on July 14.

The case against the other defendants will be heard on July 24 and August 3 and 14.

The defendants, most of them plastic workers, were remanded in police custody.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

THREE RECOMMENDED BY MAGISTRATE FOR DEPORTATION 

Three men were recommended for deportation and 13 others were given jail terms at North Kowloon Court yesterday when Mr T. L. von Pokorny passed sentence on them for being involved in the disturbance at the Government Dockyard, Yaumati, on June 1.

The three men, Leung Chuen, (41), Tsang. Shing-fook, (38), and Wong Pak, (38), convicted of charges of unlawful assembly and false imprisonment, were sentenced to 15 months and two years in prison each, the sentences to run concurrently.

In passing sentences, the magistrate said that the protection of an individual’s liberty was the primary aim of the law, “and any unlawful restraint on this liberty is regarded with abhorrence.”

Mr Pokorny told the three defendants he would recommend them for deportation “because you have shown your objection to Hongkong's peaceful and orderly way of life.”

Four other men, convicted of both charges, were sent to jail for 15 months and two years, the sentences to run concurrently. They were Cheuk Kai,(34), Chan Moon-tong (27), Kan Kai-cho (29), and Wong Chi-yui, (47).

- Unlawful Assembly -

Leung Chi-keung, (25), Ho Chung, (53), Kwok Ho-ying, (59), Kwan Cheung, (40), Ho Chui, (43), Wong Chu, (48), Lam Kam-shek, (24), Lai Ka-luk, (44) and Wong Sou-wa, (33), convicted of the charge of unlawful assembly only, were sent to jail for 15 months.

One man, found guilty of unlawful assembly was not sent to jail. He was Yau Tak, (50), who had surrendered himself to the police and had pleaded guilty to the charge. He asked the magistrate not to send him to prison.

Mr Pokorny said that the prosecution had fairly admitted that the defendant was very likely intimidated.

Yau was bound over in $500 for three years.

The 16 men given jail terms were ordered to pay $200 court costs, but when Mr Pokorny asked them if they had the money, they replied in the negative. The magistrate added two months to their prison sentences.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 9)

Counteracting Alarmist Reports Abroad On H.K. Disturbances

Mr R. G. L. Oliphant, Executive Director of the Trade Development Council, said yesterday that he had done everything possible to counteract “unjustified alarmist reports on the Hongkong disturbances” published in some foreign newspapers.

Mr Oliphant was speaking to reporters at Kai Tak after arriving from Bangkok by BOAC following discussions on internal administrative matters with the Trade Development Council’s representatives in the United States and Europe.

Mr Oliphant said some of the reports on the Hongkong troubles appearing in American newspapers were “quite wild.”

“In New ‘York, I spoke to several members of the Press, bankers, industrialists and commercial leaders, with a view to counteracting some of the quite unjustified alarmist reports that had been published regarding the disturbances in Hongkong, and I attempted to restore confidence in the future of Hongkong, in which I sincerely believe,” he said.

- Renewing Confidence -

Mr Oliphant added that the talks he had with them had helped considerably in re-establishing confidence in Hongkong.

Mr Oliphant said he later joined a trade mission from Hongkong in Switzerland, where the Swiss were shown that Hongkong could provide them with a variety of high quality consumer goods which they were at present buying from other countries.

He said he felt the mission had been very successful in Switzerland where nearly 300 business contacts were made and many trial orders taken. The situation was just as favourable in Austria, which the mission also visited, Mr Oliphant said.

When the mission ended, Mr Oliphant went to London where he opened an exhibition of Hongkong products in the presence of the Governor, Sir David Trench.

He said he felt that this exhibition would be as successful as the one which was held last May. This had attracted 800 buyers, he recalled.

***

SCMP, 4 Jul 1967 (Page 10)

“Strike” Ends Prematurely

THE dramatic termination of the so-called transport strike and suspension of food supplies from China some 18 hours before the disruptions were supposed to end is probably due to the authorities in China having acquired a more truthful picture of the “revolutionary” activities and claims of their wayward comrades in Hongkong. Indeed, the unexpected arrival on Sunday morning of large quantities of farm produce including live animals by land and sea clearly caught the local “struggle committees” by surprise, sending them rushing about organising the necessary transport for unloading the cargoes and thereby bringing about the premature ending of what was in fact a poorly supported strike induced mainly by intimidation and bribes. The authorities in China probably have also expressed misgivings about the manner in which funds were raised for the strike and the way in which they were disposed, particularly the money contributed by banking and trading institutions of the State.

An attempt is now being made to recover some of the money by directing all workers who joined the strike to undertake the transport of China foodstuffs in the Colony without charge, having already been paid to strike — the fees to be paid by the traders concerned to the appropriate “struggle committees” on pain of being branded as “saboteurs of the strike.” The leftists claim that the transport strike was not directed against the majority of the people but the hollowness of this claim is exposed by the fact that through more than 600 organised bodies the majority of the Colony’s population have given Government unconditional support in dealing with the disturbances. Traders, too, who have had their fingers burnt by collaborating with the leftists will no doubt now have second thoughts about keeping their eggs in one basket.

***

SCMP, 5 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

BIG FAILURE FOR LEFTISTS
Collapse Of Bid To Disrupt Supplies Of Bread

A bid by leftists to disrupt production in local bakeries yesterday proved a big failure.

Bread and biscuits were in plentiful supply in nearly all stores throughout the Colony.

A survey carried out by the Urban Services Department — the Licensing Authority for bakeries in the urban areas — showed that only one out of every seven bakeries in Hongkong went on strike.

There are 148 licensed bakeries in the Colony.

- Intimidation -

Mr Brian Wilson, Deputy Director of Urban Services, said the stoppage occurred in 20 bakeries — 19 on Hongkong island and one in Kowloon.

Mr Wilson said he believed that bakers who took part in the stoppage were probably victims of intimidation. It appeared that some sort of pressure had been put on them.

There was no evidence to show that the bakers had set up any kind of trade union overnight, he added.

Mr Wilson said it was unlikely that the stoppage would be repeated today following yesterday’s “big flop.”

About 100 wagons of livestock and goods arrived by rail from China yesterday.

There were 38 wagons of sundry goods, weighing 974 metric tons, 35 wagons containing 4,072 live pigs, one wagon of poultry, one wagon of cattle and 18 wagons of other foodstuffs.

A total of 5,000 pigs was slaughtered at the Mataukok abattoir and 2,900 at Kennedy town yesterday.

Cattle supplies to the markets were normal, and vegetables, fish and poultry were reported to have come from China in large quantities. Eggs were much cheaper than during the last four or five days.

- June Figures -

A total of 14,050 cattle was received in June from Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Thailand and local sources, representing a decrease of 12.1 per cent compared with May.

This was stated in the monthly report on the work of the Urban Council and Urban Services Department.

The number of pigs received from China, Taiwan and local sources—175,329—represented a decrease of 3.7 per cent compared with May, the report added.

A news agency report from Taipei said that the Taiwan Government had decided to increase from 3,100 tons to 6,000 tons the monthly export of vegetables for Hongkong.

Police said yesterday they had received no report of balloons over Hongkong with anti-British slogans painted on them.

According to 2 left-wing newspaper the balloons were seen drifting over Hongkong island yesterday.

A Medical and Health Department spokesman said he had no knowledge of a “Red nurses struggle committee” being recently set up in Government hospitals, as reported by a leftist newspaper.

***

SCMP, 5 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Welfare Fund For Utility Workers

A committee was formed yesterday to take charge of a welfare fund established for the benefit of public utility workers who did not abandon their jobs during the strikes.

Money collected for this fund will be distributed to these workers.

A meeting was called by the Hongkong and Kowloon Joint Kaifong Research Council at the Ying King Restaurant to organise the fund committee.

Present at the meeting were Kaifong leaders, representatives from newspapers, radio stations and schools. Some of them were elected members of the committee.

- An Appeal -

Mr Lee Wan-yuen, Chairman of the Council, said that about $40,000 had already been collected by newspapers and radio stations.

He said they would appeal to the public for more donations for distribution to the workers.

Another meeting will be held on Friday in the same restaurant to discuss details of the campaign.

Mr Lee was elected Chairman of the fund committee.

Other officials elected are Mr Yan Chi-kit and Mr Ng Sou-yee, Vice-Chairmen; Mr Shum Choi-sang, Hon Secretary; Mr Cheng Yuk-long and Mr Lai Shing-man, Hon Treasurers.

***

SCMP, 5 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

WOMEN SMASH POLICE CAR WINDOW

A woman was arrested in Taipo yesterday morning in connection with an incident at a school in Ting Kok Road, where a group of Hakka women on Monday obstructed the police and smashed one of the side windows of a police car.

The arrest followed a raid on four villages — Chan Uk, Sha Wan, Li Uk and Tsim Uk — in the Ting Kok area, Taipo, by riot police and detectives.

It was officially stated yesterday that the Monday incident occurred when the police went to a school following a complaint by its headmaster. They seized some papers with inflammatory writings.

When the police invited four school children to go with them to the station for questioning, about 100 other children surrounded the police van and some Hakka women hit it with scythes.

An official spokesman said that the police took no action against the four children.

***

SCMP, 5 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Dock Officers Testify
MOB ARMED WITH HOME-MADE SPEARS

Five European officials of the Taikoo Dockyard gave evidence in court yesterday of how they had seen workers arm themselves with home-made iron spears and form a “persecution” group.

Two of the officials told Judge Derek Cons at the Victoria District Court that they had been hustled and threatened by a shouting spear-wielding mob.

Another two said they saw groups of men picking up four-foot iron pipes, sharpen one end and join the hostile crowd.

A fifth man said he discovered two piles of home-made spears behind scrap bins six days after the incident.

Before the court are six dockyard workers — Szeto Wah-chung (28), Tse Tung (56), Tang Kam (47), Lo Ham (48), Lam Kwok-leung (35) and Cheng Wah (20).

Szeto is additionally charged with criminal intimidation and assault.

They have pleaded not guilty.

Extra police were on duty in the Supreme Court building to prevent trouble. Weeping relatives of the accused packed the court's public gallery.

On the court clerk’s table lay about a dozen assorted iron bars, pipes and metal hooks. One of the weapons was a four-foot rusty iron bar with a pointed piece of metal welded on one end.

Mr John McArthur, head of the Dockyard’s joiners department, recalled how one of his workers carrying a spear, threatened to take him down to the mob if he did not tell his department to stop work.

- Belligerent -

He described how, on June 6, about 30 workers, brandishing pointed iron pipes, had entered his office and escorted him down to the mob.

“They were all very noisy and belligerent. They really looked as if they meant to be nasty,” Mr McArthur said.

“They more or less prodded me down the stairs and I was pushed and hustled. I couldn’t move my arms or do a thing,” he added.

He said that he recognised Szeto “standing menacingly in front of me” and waving a four-foot metal pipe with a hammered end.

Mr McArthur said that he was forced into the middle of a circle of workers who were threatening Mr James Cassel, the General Manager, and Mr T. K. Duncan, the Shipyard Manager.

“I was told that before they would let me go I would have to promise three things: not to exploit Chinese workers, allow joiners and sawmill workers to drink tea when they liked and to hold no grudge against any man in the crowd.” said Mr McArthur.

He was then allowed to leave and returned to his office. But later Szeto arrived and demanded that the joiners stop work.

Mr Robert Paterson, Superintendent Outside Engineer, said he was in a nearby workshop as the crowd screamed at Mr Cassel, Mr Duncan and Mr John Ballie, the Foreman Engineer.

- Burst Open -

He saw Mr McArthur escorted to the centre of the crowd.

“Several faces appeared at the workshop window and the door was burst open. Several armed workers came in and forced me to go with them to the ring,” Mr Paterson said.

Mr Robert Fleming, the Dockyard’s Engine Manager, and Mr Robert Marshal, the Foundry Master, testified that they saw men pick up and cut piping and iron bars into four-foot lengths.

Mr H. J. Lightfoot, the Industrial Engineering Manager, said that on June 12, he searched part of the Dockyard. “Behind scrap bins I found two piles of home-made spears,” he said. Other weapons were found in other parts of the yard, he added.

Hearing will continue today.

Mr Ross Penlington, Crown Counsel, is prosecuting.

Mr. Peter Chan, represents Lo Ham.

***

SCMP, 5 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Gas Masks Found In Theatre

The assistant manager of the Silver Theatre in Kun Tong told the police that home-made gas masks found in the theatre were to be used “if people came,” a police officer testified before Mr T. L. von Pokorny at North Kowloon Court yesterday.

Chan Chiu-shing (37), is on trial on six charges involving the display and possession of inflammatory posters and obstructing the police.

He denied the charges but said he would not call any witnesses.

Four detectives testified that they had heard inflammatory speeches in the auditorium of the theatre on June 5, 6, 8 and 9, and that anti-Government speeches were broadcast before each show.

Mr D. R. Harris, Acting Senior Superintendent of Police, testified that he led a police party to the theatre at 11.20 pm on June 9. As he entered the building “bells began ring, and some men in the foyer ran up two flights of stairs, as if by a pre-arranged plan.”

Det Insp J. G. Hurst said that a group of people he chased to the roof of the building slammed an iron grille to bar his way. Later, when the grille had been forced open, he found the defendant in a room with 23 other people.

- Keys Produced -

Insp Hurst said that he asked if anyone had the keys to open various metal doors. Chan stepped forward, and after identifying himself as the assistant manager, produced a set of keys.

In one room on the third floor, Insp Hurst said, he found 50 home-made gas masks, four wooden batons, two hammers, a saw and about 250 inflammatory posters in two large wooden chests. In addition, there was a large stock of rice and tinned food as well as several tins of kerosene.

Questioned about the contents of the room, Chan said the masks “were to be used if people came” and that the posters were “made by workers of the theatre,” Insp Hurst testified.

Senior Inspector B. Thompson is prosecuting.

Hearing will continue today.

***

SCMP, 5 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Jailed For Riotous Assembly

Seven men who were found guilty of taking part in a riotous assembly in Garden Road on May 22, were each jailed for 15 months by Mr P. M. Corfe at Central Court yesterday.

Two teenagers, who were found guilty of a similar charge, were remanded for a week for a training centre report.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

STRENGTH OF H.K. GARRISON
Right Size In Light Of Present Circumstances
HEALEY’S STATEMENT

London, July 5.

Mr Denis Healey, the Defence Minister, told Parliament today he considered the British Garrison in Hongkong about the right size at present.

He had been asked for a statement on the strength and role of the British forces there.

Mr Healey added: “The role of British forces in Hongkong is to assist, if necessary, in the maintenance of internal security in the Colony and in its external defence.

“Recently, an additional battalion has been temporarily attached to the Garrison.

“I consider that the Garrison is about the right size at present in the light of all the circumstances.”

Sir George Sinclair (Conservative), who had raised the matter, said the Hongkong Government was now facing a clear prospect that China would wish to stir up further local trouble.

He asked: “Will you ensure that the splendid Hongkong Police, who did such a magnificent job recently, will know when they next have to face internal disorder that they have behind them in reserve the backing of credible military forces?”

Mr Healey replied: “I entirely agree that the Hongkong Police did a magnificent job in the recent disturbances, and did so knowing that they had behind them the backing of something like 10,000 British soldiers, who were never required to be used.

“We know that the situation remains difficult, and that is one of the considerations which led us to put a further battalion there.”

[A battalion of the 7th Duke of Edinburgh’s Own Gurkha Rifles arrived in Hongkong last week.]

Mr John Rankin (Labour) suggested that the chief cause of industrial unrest in Hongkong was the “miserable conditions under which the great mass of the people of Hongkong were living today.”

“This won't be solved by military but political means,” he said.

Mr Healey: “I think nobody who has followed recent events in Hongkong will believe that they have anything to do with industrial conditions.

“Of course, industrial conditions are not as good as we would all wish to see, but the fact is that they are very much better than in most other Asian countries.

“It is an astonishing tribute to the success of British administration that Hongkong has been able to absorb over 3m refugees during the last 20 years and still provide them with work and living conditions which compare favourably with those in most of the rest of Asia.”

- Minesweepers -

Mr James Davidson (Liberal) asked why the coastal minesweeper force based in Hongkong was to be withdrawn.

Mr Maurice Foley, Navy Under-Secretary, replied: “A coastal minesweeper force is being retained in Hongkong for the time being.”

Mr Davidson: “Is it intended that the force should remain there for the foreseeable future, or that it should be withdrawn and re-based in Singapore or brought back to home waters?”

Mr Foley: “We are looking again at the arrangements, I would prefer not to commit myself at this stage.” — Reuter.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Freedom Of The Press In H.K.

A radio panel agreed last night that the policy of not closing down the left-wing press had proved the value of the freedom of the press in Hongkong.

Discussing the subject of press freedom on Radio Hongkong’s “Talking Point” were Mr Robert Ho of the Kung Sheung Daily News, Mr Nigel Watt, Director of the Government Information Services, Mr Ian Stewart, Hongkong-based correspondent for the New York Times, and Mr Desmond O'Connor, Acting Crown Solicitor of the Legal Department. Chairman of the panel was Mr Michael Kaye of Radio Hongkong.

Mr Stewart said he did not think that the left-wing press should be closed down.

“I think it should be for the public to refuse or reject these newspapers by recognising the ridiculous light they present themselves.”

He said the left-wing press could cut their own throats if they carried on the way they were doing now.

Mr Watt said in the past eight weeks the Communist press had greatly weakened the effectiveness of its propaganda by repetition.

He said that while they were repeating themselves, the other newspapers, the right-wing and independent dailies, which commanded 80 per cent of the readership, were promoting a more sensible, more reasonable and more balanced line of what was going on in Hongkong.

He said had the left-wing press been closed some weeks ago, the power of the Communist threat would be much greater now.

He said no doubt if they were closed they would move on to smaller “mosquito” papers and their propaganda line would be strengthened by the fact that their main source of propaganda had been muzzled, thus evoking sympathy from the people.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Govt Assurance To Shataukok Residents

Mr. T. J. Bedford, District Officer, Taipo, yesterday assured Shataukok village representatives of Government's firm intention of unqualified support to all rural leaders in their effort to preserve the peaceful and happy way of life.

The assurance was given at a meeting with about 50 village representatives at the Shataukok Government Primary School.

The village representatives expressed their determination to co-operate with Government in restoring the present situation to normal.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Lorry Drivers Won't Put Up Banners

Twenty “neutral” lorry drivers unloading cement from Communist vessels on the Wanchai waterfront yesterday staged a walkout when they were told to put up Communist banners on their lorries.

They abandoned their lorries and refused to put up the banners which read “Special compatriot lorry.”

The lorries are owned by private contractors who have agreements to unload cement shipments arriving from Canton by junks.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Paintings Of Slogans On Roadways Condemned

Deterioration of the left-wing propaganda campaign into an indiscriminate plastering and painting of street signs and road surfaces came in for some sharp criticism yesterday from both the Hongkong Automobile Association and the Hongkong Road Safety Association.

"It is clear that the people who are putting up these posters and painting these slogans have absolutely no regard for the safety of road users,” said Mr G. W. Tait, President of the Automobile Association.

“This is more than a case of simple vandalism. It is a wide-scale defacing and disfiguring of vital warning signs on which depend the safety, and indeed the very life, of motorists and passengers alike.”

‘He quoted instances where whole sections of roadway in the New Territories had suffered a rash of paper and paint “sufficient to bewilder and confuse any road user.”

“The aesthetics of the case are not our concern,” he commented. “We are concerned purely with the effect of this thoughtless and inconsiderate action on the welfare of the travelling public.

“Warning signs that are obliterated to conceal the fact that a danger spot lies just round the bend may have fatal consequences for a full load of passengers in a New Territories bus.

“I must commend the authorities on being so quick to remove these disfigurements, but the fact remains that it generally takes some time to restore the signs to their original legibility and effectiveness,” Mr Tait added.

Mr J. H. W. Salmon, President of the Hongkong Road Safety Association, endorsed these views and said the Association deplored the mentality of people who would stoop to endangering human life in order to achieve their own self-advertisement.

“Large daubs of paint scrawled across the surface of a public thoroughfare may give their author a certain juvenile satisfaction,” he said. “But to the motorist who has to keep his eye on the road ahead, and has the lives of his passengers in his hand, they could provide a dangerous distraction at a vital moment.

“These infantile daubings occur for the most part out of the town limits, but quite often they are painted on roads that are heavily used, particularly at week-ends, when traffic congestion in the New Territories reaches dangerous proportions and an accident caused through momentary distraction may have serious repercussions.”

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Dockyard Workers Deny Taking Part In Disturbances

Six Taikoo Dockyard workers denied at Victoria district Court yesterday that they had taken part in a riotous assembly at the Dockyard on June 6.

Some of the accused claimed that at the time of the disturbances they were in their workshops and had no knowledge of what was going on in the yard.

The six men are Szeto Wahchung (28), Tse Tung (56), Tang Kam (47), Lo Ham (48), Lam Kwok-leung (35) and Cheng Wah (20). Szeto is additionally charged with criminal intimidation and assault.

Szeto said that he was present when a mob surrounded Mr J. Cassels, the Dockyard’s General Manager, but denied he had taken an active part in the riot. He also denied that he was at any time armed.

Szeto said he stopped work because everyone else had stopped. He denied he had threatened Mr John McArthur, chief of the Dockyard’s joiners department. He added that Mr McArthur was not on good terms with him.

- Commotion -

Tse testified that shortly before 9 am on June 6 he heard a commotion outside the workshop and he saw a large crowd outside. He continued to work and paid no attention. When he left the workshop later he found that most of the roads were blocked.

Tse denied that he had picked up iron pipings. He added that he did not know that Mr Cassels and other executives had been surrounded by the workers until much later when he was told about it.

Tang said that he was not in the yard and did not know what had happened. He denied he had picked up an iron bar, as alleged.

Lo denied that he had been among the mob. He said he only saw a large crowd gathered round the jetty.

Lam testified that he stayed in the copper shop on the advice of two workers who told him that trouble had broken out outside. He added he had left the shop only once to get some bread.

Cheng testified that when he heard that Mr Cassels wag surrounded by workers, he was afraid that people might think he was also involved and so he went to the general office to find a witness. He stayed in the office for some time and returned to the workshop later.  He left the Dockyard about 5 pm and went home.  He added that Mr Cassels, who had identified him as one of the crowd, might have been mistaken.

Hearing before Judge Derek Cons will continue today.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Inflammatory Broadcasts Alleged

The assistant manager of the Silver Theatre in Kun Tong, who faces seven charges involving inflammatory posters and broadcasts, said at North Kowloon Court yesterday that gas masks, a hammer and a saw found in the theatre during a police raid were not intended for offensive purposes.

In a statement from the dock, the assistant manager Chau Chiu-shing (37), told Mr T. L. von Pokorny, the magistrate, that he had no knowledge of the existence of the inflammatory posters until the night of the police raid. 

- Responsibilities -

He said his responsibilities were merely to deal with the accounts and to receive and deliver films.

Regarding a tape which the police alleged had been used for broadcasting inflammatory speeches, Chau said the theatre staff had used it “for recreation.” 

Chau is accused of allowing the theatre to broadcast inflammatory speeches, possessing and putting up inflammatory posters and obstructing the police during a raid on the theatre on June 9.

Mr. Pokorny reserved judgment until Saturday.

Senior Insp B. Thompson prosecuted.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 8)

Union Chairman Denies Riot Charges

The South Kowloon Court was heavily guarded by police yesterday when the chairman of the Rubber and Plastic General Union and six workers appeared on charges of riotous assembly, unlawful assembly and obstructing police officers.

Fung Kam-sui, the union’s chairman, Wong Kam-ling, Chung Yuk-fong, Tang Hung, Pang Fai, Yau For-wan, and Auyeung Chung-keung are alleged to have committed the offences in Kowloon on June 23.

They pleaded not guilty and were remanded to this morning for trial.

Yau and Auyeung denied an additional charge of resisting arrest.

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 12)

Councillors Visit Police Station

Three members of the Executive and Legislative Councils visited Eastern Police Station yesterday and congratulated the personnel there on the way they performed their duties.

The Hon C. Y. Kwan, accompanied by the Hon Dhun. Ruttonjee, a Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council, and by the Hon K. Watson were met at the station by Mr Peter Clough, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Hongkong Island, Mr Roy Moss, Divisional Superintendent, Eastern, and Mr Cheng Hon-kuen, Assistant Divisional Superintendent.

The party was then shown over the police station by Mr B. H. Boyton, the Sub-Divisional Inspector, who introduced Mr Chu Chun-man, the Divisional Detective Inspector.

After the visit, Mr Ruttonjee commented: “We are very happy to see them and they seem very happy to see us. This is the force we are proud of. The officers are proud of their men and the men are proud of their officers.”

***

SCMP, 6 Jul 1967 (Page 22)

PEKING’S CALL

London, July 5.

The Chinese Communist Party organ, Peking People’s Daily, today called on Chinese compatriots in Hongkong to persist in their anti-British struggle until victory, and urged the “hundreds of thousands” of students in the Colony to be the vanguards in this struggle.

In an editorial quoted by Radio Peking, the Paper said the mass anti-British struggle was dealing “an increasingly heavy blow at the British authorities politically and economically.”

“Businessmen, hawkers, students and intellectuals should take part in this struggle by adopting various methods,” the editorial said.—Reuter.

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

H.K. Paper Banned In Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, July 6.

The circulation of two Chinese language newspapers and three Chinese songs are banned in Malaysia under a Government gazette issued today.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said it considered the publications were prejudicial to the security of the nation. The banned publications are the Hongkong New Evening Post and a paper called “Every Red Flower is Facing the Sun.”

The songs are the famous Red Guard chant “East is Red,” “Song of Praise” and the tribute to Mr Mao Tsetung “Sailing the High Seas Depends on the Helmsman.”

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

MASS POLICE RESIGNATION DENIED

A Police spokesman yesterday described as “completely untrue” left-wing newspaper reports that there had been a mass resignation from the Police Force. “This is yet another typical silly rumour spread by troublemakers against the Police Force,” he said.

- Lower -

The average monthly resignation rate in the Force so far this year was much lower than in 1966, although it was similar to that in 1965.

The total strength of the Force was 11,000 and an average of 10 recruits resigned each month due to various personal reasons.

“This is nothing unusual,” the spokesman added.

The monthly average was less than 0.15 per cent representing 16 resignations this year, 0.22 per cent (24 resignations) last year and 0.14 per cent (15 resignations in 1965).

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

To Relieve Political Adviser

(photo)

Mr. K. M. Wilford, Counsellor at the Foreign Office (above), arrived by BOAG from London yesterday to relieve Mr T. A. K. Elliott, the Political Adviser who will be going to London on Sunday for a holiday and consultation.

Mr Elliott will return to Hongkong in August.

Mr Kenneth Michael Wilford, who is 45, joined the Foreign Service in August 1947 and was Counsellor and Consul-General in Peking from 1964 to 1966. Mr Wilford was appointed Assistant Private Secretary to the Foreign Secretary in August, 1959, and Private Secretary to the Lord Privy Seal in July, 1960.

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Many Join Auxiliary Police

The strength of the Hongkong Auxiliary Police Force would be raised to 8,000 by the end of this year, Mr M. Gotfried, Deputy Commandant of the Force, said yesterday.

This would represent an increase of 500, he added.

Mr Gotfried, who visited Auxiliary Police officers on duty at Mongkok Police Station, recalled that a recruiting drive had been in progress since May 24 and that about 800 people had responded. Two hundred were now receiving training. The other applications were being considered.

He pointed out that since June 24 members of the Force had volunteered for duty for eight hours a day so that about 400 regular policemen could have a chance to rest.

- Arrangements -

He said arrangements had been made so that the duty hours of Auxiliary policemen would not interfere with their office work. Most of them started at 4 pm every day and others at 6 pm.

This voluntary service would continue until the present unrest eased, Mr Gotfried said.

During the recent disturbances, he said, 99.5 per cent of the Force had responded to the emergency calls.

Among those who did not respond were some who were either on leave outside Hongkong or had other good reasons.

Others who could not give a good reason had been dismissed from the Force, but the number was very small, he added.

Mr Gotfried said he was very impressed by the fact that many young people had offered help and support to Government at this time.

Every member of the Force started as a constable and every one of them stood a very good chance of promotion. He stressed that he himself had started as a constable.

The Force had 60 women members and they were attached to the Communications Branch.

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

More Patrols To Combat Port Intimidation

The marine police are increasing their harbour patrols in an effort to clamp down on leftist intimidation of port workers.

They have borrowed an additional ten launches from the Marine Department for this purpose.

A Government spokesman said yesterday the move to augment the marine police fleet of about 40 launches was made in order to maintain “a ‘full coverage” of the harbour to prevent “troublemakers from intimidating peace-loving workers.”

Meanwhile, 95 workers of the Marine Department have been reinstated, and 278 have been dismissed, leaving 42 cases outstanding, according to the spokesman.

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 7)

Gas Workers Jailed Seven Months

Four workers of the Hongkong and China Gas Co, Ltd, were jailed for seven months each by Mr D. A. Davies at North Kowloon Court yesterday when they were convicted of putting up inflammatory posters at the gas company’s depot in Tokwawan on June 8.

They are Ip Chi-hung (41), Ip Yuk-kong (22), Lo Kam-ching (45) and Tsang Titn (50).

- Evidence Accepted -

My Davies accepted the evidence of Mr James Dagge, Production Engineer of the gas company. He said that Mr Dagge would have no difficulty in recognising the defendants as it was broad daylight at the time of the incident.

Mr Dagge had testified that he saw, from his office balcony, the four defendants putting up posters on a wall.

The defendants denied they had put up the posters, adding that they did not know what was happening at that time.

The first three defendants were represented by Mr N. I. Billingham, of David Burgin and Co.

Mr David Wilcox, Crown Counsel, prosecuted.

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 7)

Policemen Beaten Up By Crowd
IRON BARS AND BOTTLES USED AS WEAPONS

Two policemen told a Kowloon Magistrate yesterday that they had to open fire when they were surrounded and beaten up by a crowd outside a left-wing union in Canton Road, Mongkok, on June 23.

They testified before Mr J. J. Rhind, at South Kowloon Court, that their lives would have been in danger if they had not used their revolvers. They said they were attacked by a group of people who were armed with iron bars, triangular files and broken bottles.

On trial were eight men accused of rioting, unlawful assembly and obstructing the police.

They are: Fung Kam-shut (42), Chairman of the Rubber and Plastic General Union; Wong Kam-ling (25), Chung Yuk-fong (34), Tang Hung (37), Pang Fai (34), Lee Shing (25),. Yau For-wan (38) and Auyeung Chung-keung (26). They denied the charges.

- Resistance Denied -

Yau and Auyeung pleaded not guilty to another charge of resisting arrest.

Detective Constable Wong Yau-tak said he went to 1093 Canton Road with another detective and two uniformed constables on June 23.

He was taking photographs of posters and drawings on a wall and a pillar when he suddenly heard someone shouting: “Beat him, he is taking photographs.”

About 20 to 30 persons then surrounded him and he was later seized by some people standing near him.

DPC Wong said he was punched on the chest and a hard object hit his head. He was in great pain and feared that further hostile action would endanger his life.

He succeeded in breaking free and drew his revolver. “I fired at the crowd who then dispersed.

Most of them ran up the staircase leading to the union premises.” he said.

DPC Wong added that he felt great pain and leaned against the counter of a rice shop on the ground floor of House No 1093. He saw a man lying on the ground about three feet away.

Police Constable Tse Siu-man testified that he was with DPC Wong when they were attacked by the Crowd.

He said they were in great danger and he had to retreat into the rice shop where he pulled out his revolver and fired five rounds. The crowd then dispersed and many of them ran up the staircase to the union.

Earlier in the trial the police had entered a nolle prosequi against Wu On, a plastic worker, who was charged with unlawful assembly.

- Asleep On Roof -

Wu subsequently gave evidence for the prosecution. He said he was unemployed and the union had allowed him to live on the roof of the house.

On June 23, he said, he was asleep on the roof when he was awakened by the sound of gun shots. He ran down the stairs but when he reached the first floor there was heavy tear gas and he felt his right thigh being hit by bullets.

On reaching the street he put up his hands because he felt that he had done nothing wrong. He was handcuffed and led away.

Mr M. Lucas, Crown Counsel, told Mr Rhind that it took the police several hours to arrest the people inside the union.

He added that about 16 policemen. were injured in the operation.

Hearing will continue today. 

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 7)

School Group Demands Youth’s Release

More than 50 teachers and pupils of a school demanded the release of a youth at Fanling Court yesterday shortly after he was sentenced to eight months in jail by Mr H. S. Daniell for writing inflammatory posters and resisting arrest.

A riot squad, which was standing by outside the magistracy, was called into the court to restore order as the crowd shouted that the boy was innocent.

The youth, Lee Sai-lau (18), a pupil of Heung To School, was arrested at 12.30 am on June 30 as he was writing inflammatory posters on the cement support of the railway bridge in Taipo, the court was told. He resisted arrest when he was being taken into custody.

Lee's mother and grandmother cried when they heard the sentence.

***

SCMP, 7 Jul 1967 (Page 10)

More Support For Government

EXPRESSIONS of public support for the way Government is enforcing the law for maintaining peace and security continue to be received—the latest endorsement coming from the rural community in the tiny Hongkong-China border town of Shataukok where anti-Government disturbances erupted recently. Most encouraging also is the large number of young men coming forward to replace those who either deliberately deserted or had been misled into leaving their posts in essential services. These and other events clearly demonstrate that before the bar of public opinion the so-called “struggle committees” stand guilty of acts prejudicial to the overall interests and welfare of the community in general.

In view of the total lack of genuine support from the general public, one wonders when the leftists will come to their senses and put an end to their agitation against peace and order, which now apparently includes the incitement of school children. Surely they cannot expect the community to tolerate such irresponsible behaviour indefinitely. They are of course part of the community — albeit a delinquent minority who have shown no respect for the legally constituted authority under which they themselves have lived and prospered for so many years without complaints. It is therefore perhaps time for the community at large to reaffirm once again their support for the administration and to condemn in no uncertain terms the damaging anarchistic activities of the leftist elements to whom the accusation by the Peking Worker against unruly Red Guards could apply with justification — that they “concoct rumours, agitate the masses, make mischief and go everywhere to arouse struggle by force and coercion ....”

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

Inquests To Be Held On Death Of Seven Men

Government announced yesterday that inquests would be carried out shortly into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of seven men which occurred during the recent disturbances.

The next of kin have been informed that Government intends to encoffin the bodies of the seven men because they had not been collected for burial.

A Government spokesman pointed out that every one of the seven bodies had been examined by the Government pathologist and a post-mortem carried’ out to ascertain the cause of death.

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

LEFTIST STRIKE BID FAILS
Unable To Bribe Majority Of Garment Workers
INDUSTRY ON ALERT

A left-wing bid to call a strike in garment factories had failed because the trouble-makers could not afford to bribe the majority of the 72,000 workers in these factories, Mr Francis Tien, Chairman of the Hongkong Garment Manufacturers’ Association, said yesterday.

Mr Tien, who was commenting on a strike call by left-wing unions on Thursday, said there had always been close consultations between management and labour in the industry.

He pointed out that the workers, mostly women, were given generous incentives, such as a 10 per cent bonus. “So far as I know, there have been no reports of trouble in any of the factories, but we are watching the situation carefully,” Mr Tien added.

Meanwhile, a Commerce and Industry Department spokesman said the Colony’s garment factories were co-operating in a “joint defence pact” to defeat any further efforts by local Communists to bribe and intimidate the workers into striking.

- Tempting Target -

The Spokesman said the garment industry offered a tempting target to the Communists because it accounted for about 20 per cent of Hongkong's domestic exports and employed some 25 per cent of the total labour force in the manufacturing industries.

“There is little doubt that they will try again, despite their past failures to sabotage this important sector of our economy." he commented. “But I think that the industry is ready for them, and that this state of preparedness will ensure their future attempts will meet with even greater failure.

“There always has been fairly close consultation between managements, which has resulted in swift action and a resilient response whenever past crises have affected the industry, whether from cuts in production quotas or the imposition of trade barriers.

Closer Co-operation

“I believe this internal threat as led to an even closer co-operation than we have seen hitherto. The managements are determined that if any factor influences the value of our garment exports---which incidentally is expected to show an increase for the second quarter of this year---it will result from trade trends and not from this haphazard strike action.”

Even if the bribes and intimidation succeeded in bringing a factory out on strike, as it might do in one or two instances, the firm concerned either, had at least one other factory which remained unaffected or could arrange for some other firm, working below capacity, to take up its orders, the spokesman added. The result of these isolated stoppages would thus be considerably cushioned.

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

CAMPAIGN TO RAISE MONEY FOR WORKERS

During the next two months appeals will be made in Chinese newspapers and over the radio for contributions to the kaifong initiated welfare fund for workers who continued to work during the recent strikes. The appeals will start next Tuesday.

The committee in charge of the fund will also send letters to various organisations appealing for contributions.

A decision to hold this campaign was made yesterday at the second meeting of the committee whose members are drawn from newspapers, radio stations, kaifong associations and schools.

Collection centres will be set up at the various kaifong associations, newspaper offices, radio stations and some banks.

An account will be opened at the Chartered Bank next Monday to deposit the money raised.

The committee decided that it would later meet representatives of workers to discuss distribution of the money collected.

It will meet at Ying King Restaurant every Friday at 1 pm.

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Protest By Pupils

About. 200 pupils came out of the Heung To Middle School off Tai Hang Tung, Kowloon Tsai, about 11 am yesterday and demonstrated.

They stood on the road, shouted slogans and waved red books to protest against alleged illegal arrest and imprisonment of a number of pupils some weeks ago.

The demonstrators also protested against a prison term imposed on Lee Sai-lau (18), a pupil of the school.

Lee was jailed for eight months in Fanling Court on Thursday for writing inflammatory posters and resisting arrest.

The pupils remained on the road for a few minutes and returned to the school after a group of photographers, believed to be from leftist newspapers, had taken photographs of them.

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Pupils Criticise Articles

Upper Six pupils of Belilios Public School yesterday criticised certain articles in left-wing newspapers which were allegedly written by pupils of the school.

The articles had said that the school’s pupils were receiving a “colonialist education.”

The pupils said: “We totally cannot tolerate those destructive elements who attack the good name of our school with malicious intentions and try to strangle the future of our fellow pupils.”

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Special Allowances For Transport Workers

Public transport workers who stayed on their jobs have been given special allowances since the strikes started on June 24, it was learned yesterday.

Spokesmen of the Hongkong Tramways Ltd, the Hongkong Yaumati Ferry Co, Ltd, and the China Motor Bus Co, Ltd, said their workers had been paid an additional $5.

This special allowance was made on a day-to-day basis and could be rescinded at any time, they said.

The “Star” Ferry Co, Ltd, has gone one step further. More than 260 workers who stayed on their jobs have been given a salary increase of $30 each, effective on July 1.

- New Recruits -

Mr H. M, G. Forsgate, General Manager of the company, said that the increase covered all retained ferry crew and terminal staff.

New recruits who had joined the company in the past few weeks would be eligible for the rise after a probationary period of six months.

Mr Forsgate said that in addition to the rise, the company’s special allowance of $25 would be consolidated into the basic wage.

"This consolidation is of considerable benefit to the staff concerned in terms of overtime and retirement benefits, as these calculated on basic pay,” he said.

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 7)

Accused Not Feeling Well: Hearing Adjourned

The trial of eight workers on charges of rioting, unlawful assembly and obstructing the police was adjourned to next week when one of the defendants complained that he was not feeling well.

The man, Lee Shing (25), was sent to Queen Elizabeth Hospital where he was detained for observation.

The other defendants are Fung Kam-shui (42), Chairman of the Rubber and Plastic General Union; Wong Kam-ling (25), Chung Yuk-fong (34), Tang Hung (37), Pang Fai (34), Yau For-wan (38) and Auyeung Chung-keung (26). They denied the charges.

Yau and Auyeung also pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of resisting arrest.

Before the case was adjourned, Mrs Wong Fun, who lives in a flat below the Rubber and Plastic General Union at 1093 Canton Road, testified that more than ten people entered her flat on June 23 and sat on the beds and on the floor. They were later arrested when the police entered the premises.

- Weapons -

Mrs Wong was shown a large number of weapons, including triangular files, knives, iron bars, spears and hooks, as well as home-made gas masks, which the police said were found in her flat. She said none of the weapons belonged to her or her sub-tenants.

During an adjournment yesterday, a group of people, mainly women, marched into the courtroom. They stayed there for about half an hour before marching out.

Extra policemen and women police constables were posted inside and outside the courtroom. There were no incidents.

Mr M. Lucas, Crown Counsel, is prosecuting. He is assisted by Detective Senior Insp G. Whiteley.

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 7)

Theatre Men Jailed

Two: employees of the Silver Theatre in Kun Tong were each jailed for two years by Mr T. L. von Pokorny at North Kowloon Court yesterday after they were convicted of assaulting police officers, obstructing the police and resisting arrest.

The two men, Liu Kwok-bun (22), a projectionist, and Fan Hon-sum (48), an air-conditioning mechanic, were jailed for another two months when they said they could not pay $250 costs each.

Finding the defendants guilty, Mr Pokorny said they had wilfully prevented the police from carrying out their duties when the police raided the theatre on June 9.

He also pointed out that Liu had violently struggled with policemen and had attacked them with an iron bar. As a result, one of the police officer was bruised on the right shoulder.

***

SCMP, 8 Jul 1967 (Page 7)

Three Appeals Against Conviction

Three men, who were jailed for rioting and unlawful assembly offences, appealed before Mr Justice A. M. McMullin yesterday against conviction and sentence.

They are Yim Tak-wai, who serving a two-year sentence on a charge of riotous assembly, Cheng Hung-chiu and Tse Chung who are serving 12-month terms for unlawful assembly.

Mr J. Wilner, representing Yim, said that he was arrested outside South Kowloon Court following some disturbances. There was a big crowd there at that time and it was possible that the police had made a wrong identification.

- Curiosity -

Cheng’s counsel, Mr Martin Lee, said his client, a steward of HMS Fiskerton, was arrested when he came out of HMS Tamar.

There was a crowd chanting slogans at Statue Square and Cheng, through curiosity, stood nearby to watch.

Mr Lee said when he was stopped by the police, Cheng was asked to identify himself. He showed his pass but a policeman tried to take it. Cheng refused to allow this and was arrested, counsel said.

Mr D. B. Gunston, representing Tse, said the trial magistrate was wrong in holding that the evidence in court had proved Tse guilty of unlawful assembly.

The three appellants were remanded for a week.

***

New York Times (8 Jul 1967)

Gunfire From Red China Kills 4 Hong Kong Police

HONG KONG, Saturday, July 8—Light machine-gun fire from Communist China killed four Hong Kong policemen today and wounded 11 others. It was the first serious border incident since Communist-inspired disturbances here led to a sharp deterioration in relations between Britain and China a month ago.

The incident occurred at the border town of Shataukok, where the main street marks the frontier between this British crown colony and China. It followed a clash between Hong Kong policemen and demonstrators who crossed the border from China.

The invading force retreated, but at mid-afternoon a crowd of about 2,000, armed with stones and sticks, gathered on the Chinese side of the border at Lowu, the official crossing point for travellers.

About 300 of them, officials at the scene reported, appeared to be in some kind of uniform. Lowu is about 10 miles west or the site of the earlier clash.

Police Post Attacked

A Hong Kong Government spokesman said the first crowd, made up of about 300 people, crossed the border at about 11 A.M. (10 P.M. Friday New York. time), and demonstrated outside the town's police post, waving flags, shouting and chanting.

The police post was stoned, according to the spokesman, and the police were forced to fire wooden projectiles in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

This was not effective, the spokesman said, and subsequently tear gas had to be used.

Some minutes later, shots were fired from what appeared to be a light machine gun on the Chinese side of the border, the spokesmen added. The bullets struck several members of a police company in the Shataukok rural committee building. Two of the four men killed were Pakistani members of the police force. The others were Chinese.

Later, the commissioner of police announced the mobilization of Hong Kong's auxiliary police force. The regular police force numbers 10,000 men and there are 2,000 auxiliaries.

It was not immediately clear whether the shots from the Chinese side were returned. The situation at Shataukok was reported to be tense and the police post was said to be under "sniper fire."

Army units in the area were expected to be alerted. Hong Kong's military force was recently reinforced by an extra Gurkha battalion, bringing its strength up to about 8,000 men.

An earlier incident occurred at Shataukok last month, when policemen used tear gas to disperse demonstrators. China subsequently protested that teargas shells had been fired into Chinese territory, injuring a number of people.

***

The Washington Post, Times Herald (9 Jul 1967)

China Mob Storms Into Hong Kong
5 Policemen Killed; Red Guns Cover Attack by 1000

By Stanley Karnow, Washington Post Foreign Service

HONG KONG, July 8—A mob of 1000 Chinese stormed across the border from Red China into this British colony today, killing five Hong Kong policemen in an attack on a frontier police post.

The attack, the most dramatic action since Communist-inspired disorders flared up here in May, occurred late this morning at Shataukok, a farm and fishing village that straddles the Hong Kong-China border. It is about 20 miles from Kowloon, the Colony's tourist shopping district.

The Communist offensive was apparently premeditated and well-planned, with machine-gun and rifle fire from the Chinese side of the fro-tier covering the mob as it streamed into Hong Kong.

Dodging snipers bullets, a battalion of Gurkhas moved into the area this afternoon to relieve the besieged police The Gurkhas reportedly fired no shots.

In addition to the five dead policemen — three of them Hong Kong Chinese and two recruited in Pakistan — 12 other policemen were wounded. The police reportedly shot two demonstrators but had no information on their condition. A general curfew was imposed on the area.

According to official sources here, there is no evidence that elements of the two Chinese army regiments facing Hong Kong were involved. It is believed, however, that the mob was aided by units of the Chinese "People's Militia," irregulars who guard frontier regions.

Only the army and the militia are permitted to have weapons in China.

Meanwhile, crowds armed with clubs and farm tools massed at other spots inside the Chinese border. The largest of these, estimated at 3000, gathered near the Lo Wu bridge, where a railroad links Hong Kong with China.

None of these crowds made any attempt to enter the colony, however.

Rallies in Kowloon

At the same time, demonstrators in downtown Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island staged several rallies. They pasted up posters and painted slogans on buildings denouncing the British. Police dispersed them easily.

The armed border attack, the first such assault on Hong Kong since the Communists took over China in 1949, is believed to have been motivated by frustration on the part of Mao Tse-tung’s followers as a result of their failures to undermine the British administration here.

Since early May. Communist-led riots and strikes as well as formal threats from Peking have failed to sway British colonial authorities. They have rejected Chinese demands to release demonstrators arrested in the disorders.

Revolution's Effect

The frontier action also struck analysts here as an example of the extent to which Mao's Cultural Revolution has eroded discipline and political controls in China. The last time controls in adjacent Kwangtung Province broke down was in 1962, when some 200,000 hungry Chinese poured into Hong Kong following the collapse of the "Great Leap Forward," Mao’s effort to modernize China overnight.

The recent disorders had particularly heightened tensions at Shataukok, where the border separating Hong Kong from China bisects the main street. It divides the village's 3000 residents into capitalists and communists.

When the Communists tried to cross the street in a demonstration last month, Hong Kong police drove them back with tear gas. The Communists have claimed that 30 of their activists were injured.

Expecting more trouble, the forward Shataukok police post, a low, whitewashed bungalow 50 yards from the border, was strengthened from its normal complement of 20 to 80 men.

Gurkhas Positioned

Last week, too, a battalion of Gurkhas was transferred here from Singapore to reinforce the 4000-man Gurkha brigade already garrisoned in the colony.

As he related the days events in an interview tonight, Superintendent G. McNeiI, who commands Hong Kong's police in the New Territories area, said that he smelled something brewing this morning when he noticed Shataukok’s tradesmen closing the shutters of their sleazy shops.

"But I didn't anticipate shooting." McNeil said. Towards 11 o'clock, McNeil went on, he saw about 1000 people congregating on the Chinese side of the border. They wore civilian clothes, and they were armed with sticks and bars. They converged on the police post, stopping outside its fence and bombarding it with a "tremendous barrage" of stones and bottles.

The police first attempted to rout the mob with wooden projectiles shot from anti-riot guns. When the crowd refused to budge, the police tried tear gas. At that point, McNeil recalled, "heavy fire" riddled the post from three or four points over the border.

***

New York Times (9 Jul 1967)

GURKHAS PROTECT HONG KONG BORDER
British Send In Troops After 5 Policemen Are Killed by Chinese Reds' Gunfire

HONG KONG, July 8 — An armored column of Gurkhas stood guard tonight on the tense border between Hong Kong and Communist China.

The tough Nepalese troops of the British Army relieved policemen who were attacked by Chinese Communist rifle and automatic weapons fire today at the border town of Shataukok. Five policemen were killed and 12 were wounded before the Gurkhas, from the 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade, entered the town and restored order.

Late tonight the situation was reported quiet. [Communist China lodged a protest with Britain Sunday, saying that Hong Kong police had fired first and that “our frontier guards also fired back," Reuters reported.

The trouble began when about 1,000 demonstrators crossed into Hong Kong territory from China at Shataukok, where the main street marks the frontier.

After stoning the police post, the mob set dynamite charges against its protective fence. The police opened fire, hitting two persons. Shots were fired at the police from both the British and Chinese sides of the border.

It was one of the most serious developments affecting relations between Hong Kong and China since the Chinese Communists came to power in 1949 and the first major border incident since tension developed between Britain and China over disturbances instigated by local Communists in the last few weeks.

Peking has pledged support for the local Communists.

Despite rioting and Communist demonstrations, troops have not previously been used to control disturbances. Hong Kong's 10,000-man police force has dealt with the internal disorder, but the incident today underlined the British crown colony's vulnerability to an overt offensive from the Chinese side.

No Troop Movements Seen

Officials insisted that there was no indication of troop movements on the Chinese side of the border or any evidence that persons in uniform shot at the police.

Although all those involved in the attack on the police station were said to have been in civilian clothes, observers said that it was unlikely that anyone in China would possess arms without official sanction.

Most political analysts here believe that Peking has no immediate designs on Hong Kong. But there is some concern that, because of the general turmoil created in China by the Cultural Revolution, Peking may not be able to stop such activities by minor local officials or energetic activists out to prove their revolutionary fervor.

The officer in charge of the police post at Shataukok, Senior Superintendent D. G. McNeil, said in an interview broadcasted by the Hong Kong radio that trouble had been anticipated when shops on both sides of the border put up their shutters.

He said that about 1,000 people armed with sticks and iron bars crossed over from the Chinese side and surrounded the police post, which they attacked with a "tremendous barrage of bottles and stones and dynamite bombs."

The police used tear gas to disperse the mob but came under heavy fire from three or four points. Two policemen were killed immediately, Mr. McNeil said.

"We then started firing back, but it was extremely difficult to locate where they were firing from," he added.

He said that three or four snipers forced the police to keep their heads down. They also received short bursts from "some form of machine gun," he said.

The Gurkha battalion—about 700 men—came under sporadic fire as it moved into Shataukok. A Government spokesman said that the Gurkhas had not returned the fire.

Hong Kong's auxiliary police force was mobilized and all army units were placed on alert. There are 2,000 auxiliaries and 10,000 men in the regular police force. Hong Kong's military force was recently reinforced by a Gurkha battalion, bringing its strength to about 8,000 men.

***

New York Times (9 Jul 1967)

British Forces in Hong Kong Keep Watch Over Scene of Border Clash
Protest by Red China

HONG KONG, Sunday, July 9 (Reuters) – Communist China today lodged "the most urgent and strongest protest" with Britain over yesterday's disorders at the border town of Shataukok, in which five Hong Kong policemen were killed.

In a note handed to Britain's Chargé d'Affaires in Peking, Donald Hopson, China blamed British authorities for starting the trouble arid demanded a public apology.

The note said the Hong Kong police had fired first and “our frontier guards also' fired back."

It said one Chinese had been killed and eight wounded in the incident, but made no mention of the dead policemen.

The note accused Britain of "increasingly aggravating the Hong Kong situation" by creating tension on the border.

"The Chinese Government hereby sternly and solemnly warns the British Government that if you persist in being hostile to the Chinese people to the end, then you must bear all the grave consequences arising therefrom," it concluded.

Aide Will Contact Peking

LONDON, July 8 (Reuters)— Informed sources said today that the British chargé d'affaires in Peking, Donald Hopson, had been asked to inform the Chinese Government of the incident and to seek clarification.

British Allies Since 1815

The Gurkhas are professional soldiers recruited from the Himalayan country of Nepal who have been fighting for the British since 1815.

They are ferocious warriors. An English correspondent once described them as "gently homicidal, warm-hearted and hot-blooded."

Although essentially infantrymen—perhaps the best in the world—they also operate as paratroopers and modem army specialists.

They supplement their up-to-date arms with 15- to 20-inch curved swords called kukris.

Their average height is 5 feet 3 inches and they weight about 110 pounds. Most are recruited from seven Gurkha tribes in Nepal.

***

New York Times (9 Jul 1967)

Troops Enter and Villagers Leave After Hong Kong Border Incident

Women evacuated from Shataukok, on frontier between Hong Kong and Red China, walking past policemen yesterday.

***

The Straits Times, 9 July 1967

Three killed in Hong Kong border battle
Gurkhas to rescue as China Reds attack police post

HONG KONG, Saturday

A mob of 300 Communist Chinese, many armed with machine-guns, automatic weapons and other arms, crossed the border today and shot dead at least three Hong Kong policemen and wounded 11 others whey besieged a village police post.

The Communists then raked British police and Gurkha troops sent to the aid of the policeman at the border village of Sha Tau Kok.

The authorities clamped a curfew on Sha Tau Kok after alerting the entire British garrison of about 10,000 troops.

As troops of the 48th Gurkha rifles and the 1st battalion, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, aced to the village they came on the sniper fire from across the border where thousands of Chinese were mast.

Earlier, police retaliated with gunfire, heating to Chinese, when the mob attacked the police post an attempt to destroy the surrounding protective fence with explosives, a Government spokesman said.

- Sniper fire -
The spokesman said a military operation had been mounted to relieve the 86 police who were still under attack in the village post. About 80 others took cover in the Sha Tau Kok rural committee headquarters, some 50 yards behind the village post.

The Gurkha is advanced through sniper fire to rescue those in rural committee headquarters, then turned against the 300 Communists trying to batter down the doors of the police post.

The three dead police were identified as Hong Kong-born Pakistanis. About 60 of them are on duty in the border area.

-Automatic arms-
The government said the Chinese set up a machine-gun on the north (Communist) side of the village street just before the attack began. It said police also reported seeing some automatic rifles carried by what police believed were Communist Chinese militia.

8 miles to the west, 3000 Chinese were moving from Chung San, on the Communist side, to Man Kam To on the Hong Kong side,. The government said it included 300 armed men in uniform.

Behind Sha Tau Kok, another 2000 are massing and moving towards the border-straddling village.

Hong Kong officials said it was impossible to immediately assess the intentions of the Communist Chinese.

Most seemed to believe the attack and moves toward the border were deliberately calculated attempts to frighten Hong Kong – ripped by pro-Communist rioting and violent anti-British demonstrations in May and hit by Communist – instigated labour strikes throughout June.

But there was no immediate believe that the Chinese will launch a major attack against Hong Kong.

- Local? -
Observers believed that, while Sha Tau Kok threatened to explode into a major showdown, it appeared unlikely that the incident had any sanction from Peking and was more likely to be a local outburst.

Government officials here cannot recall any similar incident, involving shots being fired across the border, in the past 10 years.

An army spokesman said tonight that order had been restored in Sha Tau Kok and 200 Gurkhas we are now assisting police in maintaining the situation.

He said the Gurkhas had not suffered any casualties and had not at any time returned fire.

The incident erupted shortly before noon when a crowd of about 300 shouting, weapon-waving Chinese demonstrators surged across the border and began stoning the police post and rural committee headquarters.

Police fired wooden anti-riot missiles and then used teargas in an attempt to disperse the mob, armed with sticks, clubs, iron bars and arms.

The mop retreated and then light machine-guns mounted on buildings on the Chinese side of the border opened fire.

Two policemen were killed and seven wounded in the initial machine-gun attack. Shortly afterwards, another policeman was killed and four others wounded in the rural committee building.

- Sensitive -
The Communists kept the police post under sniper fire for about five hours until after the Gurkhas arrived to relieve the beleaguered police garrison.

Today's border battle follows two months of riots, leftist demonstrations and strikes in Hong Kong. Eight Chinese have died in the disturbances.

Sha Tau Kok, which straddles the Hong Kong-China border with only a row of small posts down the centre of the main street separating Hong Kong from China, is regarded as the most sensitive spot on the 17-mile long border.

***

SCMP, 10 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

Britain Registers Strong Protest

London, July 9.

Britain has protested strongly to China about yesterday’s clash at the Hongkong border town of Shataukok, the Foreign Office announced today.

It said in a statement that Mr. Donald Hopson, British Charge d’Affaires in Peking, called at the Chinese Foreign Ministry at his own request “to register a strong protest about the serious incident.”

It added: “Mr Hopson protested at the incursion into Hongkong territory by armed demonstrators from the Chinese side of the frontier who opened fire on a police post, killing five policemen and wounding about a dozen others.

“Mr Hopson rejected Chinese allegations that the incident was caused by the Hongkong police, and refused to accept a Chinese Note of protest.”

The Chinese Note alleged that Hongkong Police fired on Chinese inhabitants returning to the New Territories in Kowloon after holding a demonstration on the Chinese side of the border village of Shataukok.

- Peking’s Charge -

It said Chinese frontier guards fired warning shots against “such atrocities and provocations” but this were totally disregarded.

The Note said the Hongkong Police “continued to fire at the demonstrators, killing one and wounding eight of them.

“Our frontier guards also fired back at the policemen and ‘riot police’ of the British authorities in Hongkong.”

The Note demanded an open apology from Britain, the immediate punishment of culprits responsible for the incident and the payment of compensation to victims for their losses.

It also demanded a guarantee against the recurrence of similar incidents and the release of those arrested in a previous incident last June.

Despite the feverish style of the protest, observers in Peking generally believe that the Chinese Government regrets the incident.

- First Reaction -

Senior British officials are still studying the implications of the incident. First reaction in official quarters was to regard the incident as more serious than other clashes because it took place on the border, whereas others have been within Hongkong Itself.

But the sources said it was still not clear how far the clash had been inspired from Peking, or whether it was purely the result of a local Chinese decision.

It is understood there are no plans for Sir David Trench, the Governor, to fly back to the Colony. ---Reuter and AFP.

***

SCMP, 10 Jul 1967 (Page 1)

MORE VIOLENCE ERUPTS
Policemen Hacked To Death In West Point
THREE RIOTERS KILLED

(Photo on right)

Violence erupted in the Colony again yesterday resulting in the death of a police constable and three rioters in separate incidents.

A policeman was hacked to death with a cargo hook in West Point outside No 564-566 Queen’s Road West late yesterday afternoon when a police patrol attempted to disperse a crowd of 150 people distributing inflammatory leaflets.

At about the same time police had to use tear gas to disperse a crowd of more than 100 youths after they had set fire to a van outside the Tin Tin Yat Pao office in North Point.

In Kowloon, police were forced to draw their revolvers to disperse a crowd of about 50 people gathered outside the Astor Theatre, Nathan Road, shortly after 5 pm. The crowd shouted slogans and threw empty bottles at the police before withdrawing into the theatre. A man who was distributing inflammatory leaflets was arrested.

It was later learned that in the West Point incident, one civilian was shot dead and another died later in hospital from gunshot wounds. The policeman was killed on the spot. A police sergeant was also injured. There were no further incidents in this area.

- Stones Thrown -

The North Point incident started at the Hongkong Tramways terminus where a crowd of about 100 began throwing stones, bricks and bottles at some company employees who were removing wall posters.

When the police arrived, the crowd, which had then increased considerably, ran down King’s Road and gathered outside the China Goods Centre, in Kui Kwoon Building. There, they regrouped and started shouting slogans. At the same time hundreds of inflammatory leaflets and left-wing newspapers were thrown from the roof of the building.

When police again arrived on the scene the crowd ran into Java Street where they started to stone the Tin Tin Yat Pao offices and set fire to a van outside.

The crowd moved back to King’s Road and gathered outside the Wah Fung China Products Company where they started throwing stones at buses. One bus was forced to stop and after passengers had alighted, the crowd attempted to set fire to it. The driver on seeing this quickly drove the vehicle away.

The crowd then vented their anger on trams. They managed to stop two trams and disconnect the conductor arms.

At midnight police were still firing tear gas at crowds gathered outside the Wah Fung Chinese Products Company and the State Theatre. Bottles and stones were thrown at police from rooftops near the theatre. A policeman was injured by a thrown bottle.

But the situation quietened down about half an hour later.

There was also violence in Wanchai. Groups gathered round the bar areas and assaulted American and British sailors as they left the bars.

The bars were closed immediately as U.S. and British naval shore patrols rounded up sailors and told them to report back to their respective ships.

Police cordoned off Lockhart Road up to the Causeway Bay area.

A crowd of 400, eight of them believed to be ring-leaders, all armed with bottles, gathered in Johnston Road near Tai Wo Street shortly after midnight.

The police were forced to open fire after the crowd ignored repeated warnings o disperse, and threw stones and bottles at the police.

As a result, a ring-leader was shot dead. Eleven people were arrested.

By 1.23 am, the area was quiet.

There were no incidents at Shataukok throughout yesterday.

***

SCMP, 10 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

GURKHAS PATROL TENSE BUT QUIET BORDER
Shataukok Shows Scars Of Shooting Incidents

An uneasy calm returned to the border village of Shataukok yesterday following Saturday’s killing of five policemen by armed Chinese militiamen and demonstrators.

Battle-ready Gurkha soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 10th Princess Mary's Own Gurkha Rifles, kept a steady watch on any activity in the Communist side of the village.

Reporters taken on a tour of the village saw Gurkha soldiers almost everywhere, patrolling the paddy fields and the adjacent village shacks, digging in on a small hill overlooking the Communist sector and standing by machine guns among sand bag posts.

The Rural Committee building outside which three policemen were killed on Saturday, showed more than 200 bullet holes. Its windows were all broken and its floors strewn with broken glass.

On Shataukok Main Road, outside the building, blood marks could still be seen.

The police post was also pullet-ridden, its windows broken and its floor littered with broken glass and blood marks.

There were sand bag posts on the Rural Committee building, the police post and the fire station.

The Gurkha soldiers had also built other posts on every flat-roofed building in the area.

In contrast, the Communist side of the village displayed only about five such posts on top of buildings.

However, very few militiamen, Red Guards or demonstrators could be seen. Only a few militiamen in grey uniform could be seen on top of some buildings in the distance.

At 4 pm, the Communist sector looked very much like a ghost town with the occasional barking of dogs.

At the end of Shataukok Main Road, where it meets with Chung Ying Street---the so-called demarcation line --- was an effigy of the Governor, Sir David Trench hanging from a hastily-built gallows.

- Watching -

Lieut-Col Denis O'Leary, the Officer Commanding the 600-strong Gurkha unit in the area, said the situation had been very quiet all day yesterday.

He added that although not many militiamen could be seen, he could feel they were watching every movement on the Hongkong side.

Mr T. J. Bedford, District Officer, Taipo, said he thought the shooting was the work of some irresponsible people wanting to stir trouble.

He said the presence of the Army had contributed considerably towards restoring the villagers’ confidence that the Government was taking care of them.

He added that he invited 50 rural leaders from Shataukok to come to a meeting yesterday morning, and most of them turned up.

He said the leaders assured him that they deplored what had happened, and that they had not supported those actions.

Mr Bedford explained that Shataukok was unique among the border towns in that it had no real demarcation line.

“The people here cross over to Communist China and come back as they please. Some of them who reside on the Communist side even own land on this side. “They come to cultivate their farms and sell their vegetables every day.

“That's why it is very hard to say if every person in the demonstrating mob was from the Communist side,” he said.

Assistant Superintendent K. E. Wellburn, of the Hongkong Police Force, who is still recovering from the wounds he received during Saturday’s siege, yesterday described the first few minutes when the policemen came under fire.

The time was shortly after 11 am and three platoons, comprising 120 men, had just debussed and taken up box formation alongside the Rural Committee building.

“We watched through binoculars as a large crowd came across the border from the Chinese territory, with schoolchildren in the forefront and adults in the rear, carrying wooden staves and other implements.

“Tear gas was fired at the crowd from the police post, and I saw the crowd begin to disperse. It was then that I heard what I thought was firecrackers.

“But when I saw spurts of water spray up in the paddy fields beside the road, I realised that we were under machine gun fire and I ordered my men to take cover.

“Looking back up the road, I saw that some of the men had been hit and were lying on the ground,” he said.

His Excellency the Officer Administering the Government, Mr Michael Gass, paid an impromptu visit to the Wongtaisin Police Station and radio control room of Kowloon district yesterday afternoon.

He was accompanied by Mr C. P. Sutcliffe, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kowloon.

Sir John Worsley, Commander of British Forces in Hongkong and Mr E. Tyrer, the Commissioner of Police, yesterday paid separate visits to Shataukok.

***

SCMP, 10 Jul 1967 (Page 6)

Memorial Service For Pakistani Policemen

A memorial service was held at the Muslim Cemetery, Happy Valley, yesterday for two Pakistani policemen killed in Saturday’s shooting incident at Shataukok.

More than 500 friends and colleagues of the dead men attended the service, including the Commissioner of Police, Mr E. Tyrer.

The bodies of the two policemen, now reposing at the International Funeral Parlour, North Point, are expected to be flown to Pakistan in Wednesday.

The Hon Dhun Ruttonjee and the Hon P. C. Woo paid a visit to the relatives of two of the three Chinese police officers killed in the shooting incident at Shataukok.

They expressed condolences and deepest sympathy to the dead men’s families on behalf of the Legislative Council.

***

SCMP, 10 Jul 1967 (Page 10)

SHIFTING THE RESPONSIBILITY

SATURDAY’S incidents at Shataukok and the subsequent protests and counter-protests at Foreign Office level underline the unrealism of Mr Henry Hu’s call for “round-table talks” (which, despite claims to the contrary by Mr Brook Bernacchi, was fully reported in the S. C. M. Post of July 5). The fact is that the parties concerned might at the moment be inhabiting different planets so far as the possibility of any productive dialogue is concerned. The Peking protest Note which the British Charge d’Affaires, Mr Donald Hopson, rightly refused to accept, accused the British authorities of “creating tension along the Border” and of “starting the trouble” at Shataukok. For the record, as was reported yesterday, the trouble started when demonstrators began stoning a village Police post and later shooting and hurling home-made dynamite bombs at its occupants, who were armed with nothing more lethal than tear smoke and riot guns firing wooden projectiles. Police counterfire from the Shataukok rural committee building 100 yds farther back only appears to have begun after the Communist frontier guards had opened lethal fire with machine guns. When the Gurkhas came in to restore the situation they did not fire a single shot.

The details of a confused engagement of this kind are not easy to sort out and some misinterpretation in the Peking version of the affair might be excused. That such misinterpretation indeed occurred seems to be confirmed by references in the Note to “Chinese inhabitants returning to the New Territories in Kowloon” which just does not make sense. But the details are relatively unimportant. What matters is the allegation, which follows a pattern familiar ever since the local disturbances started, that the Hongkong authorities “created tension” and “started the trouble.” The answer to this kind of charge, which gives the whole situation its Alice Through the Looking Glass quality, is: what possible purpose could be served by their doing so? The whole stated aim of Government and of the 99 per cent of Hongkong’s population who have come out in its support, is to preserve peace and security --- an aim which extends to the Border area. Which of the parties concerned wants to create tension and start trouble? The answer has been so obvious all along as to scarcely bear repeating; it is the local leftist agitators, who unforgiveably (sic) confirmed their murderous intentions towards the police yesterday evening in Queen’s Road.

***

New York Times (10 Jul 1967)

FOUR IN HONG KONG KILLED IN CLASHES: POLICEMAN SLASHED TO DEATH

Policeman Slashed to Death—Three Protesters Shot

HONG KONG, July 9—Communist demonstrators clashed with policemen in this British colony again tonight as slogans appeared on walls in the crowded Wanchai area saying: "Liberate Hong Kong." Four persons, including a policeman, were killed.

Earlier today, Britain and Communist China exchanged protests about the incident at the border town of Shataukok yesterday, where five members of the Hong Kong police force were killed and 12 wounded by Chinese Communist gunfire. Each side rejected the other's protest.

In its protest note, Peking acknowledged that Chinese "frontier guards" had fired on Hong Kong policemen, but charged that the police fired first. The Chinese note said the police fire killed one 'person and wounded eight others.

In Shataukok, a British Army officer said that "regular Chinese forces" fired on a Gurkha battalion as it entered the area yesterday to relieve the Shataukok police post. He added that two vehicles in an armored column were hit by bullets from one or more machine guns. The Gurkhas did not return the fire, which stopped after five minutes.

The first clash between policemen and Communist demonstrators today occurred in Queen's Road West on Hong Kong Island, when a police patrol stopped to investigate a crowd of about 150 people distributing leftist leaflets. One police constable was slashed with a cargo hook and died.

The police fired several shots to disperse the crowd. One person was shot dead and another died later in hospital.

Later tonight, a crowd of about 300 demonstrators threw bottles of acid at policemen and attacked the office of a right-wing newspaper in North Point, which is also on the island. The crowd was dispersed by tear gas.

The police also used tear-gas shells on a crowd rioting in Wanchai. Another demonstrator was shot dead when policemen later fired on the crowd.

Donald Hopson, the British chargé d'affaires in Peking, refused to accept the Chinese protest note when he met with LO Kuei-po, a Deputy Foreign Minister. Mr. Hopson made an oral protest over the border incident, which the Chinese minister rejected, reports from Peking said.

According to Hsinhua, the Chinese Communist press agency, the Chinese note lodged "the most urgent and strongest protest" with the British Government.

British authorities here said yesterday that the police post at Shataukok was attacked by about 1,000 people who crossed into Hong Kong territory from China. Peking's note said the incident followed a rally on the Chinese side of the border at tended by people from both sides. It said that, when the Hong Kong Chinese were returning to the British side of the border, Hong Kong policemen "flagrantly carried out a premeditated, sanguinary suppression of them."

The police threw tear-gas bombs and opened fire at the demonstrators, and "at the same time fired at our side," the note asserted.

The Chinese note said: "Chinese frontier guards at once fired warning shots against such atrocities and provocations by the British side. But in total disregard of warnings from our side, policemen and ‘riot police' of British authorities in Hong Kong continued to fire at demonstrators, killing one and wounding eight of them. Our frontier guards also fired back at policemen and 'riot police' of the British authorities in Hong Kong."

Peking called for "public apologies," punishment of "culprits" and a guarantee that such incidents would not recur.

The situation in Shataukok was quiet today. Reporters who toured the British side saw Gurkhas stationed with rifles and automatic weapons behind sandbagged emplacements on roofs and at various points on the ground, including a hill overlooking the town.

The Chinese could be seen behind similar sandbagged vantage points on buildings on the Chinese side of the town's main street, which marks part of the frontier between Hong Kong and China.

Late tonight, a dynamite charge of the type used by fishermen was thrown across the main street in Shataukok, injuring a Gurkha.

A message in Chinese from the British commander of the Gurkhas to his counterpart on the Chinese side was broadcasted by loudspeakers. It called on the Chinese military commander to do what he could to stop “misguided people from creating incidents like this, which could easily result in loss of life."

***

South China Morning Post (10 Jul 1967)

Memorial Service For Pakistani Policemen

A memorial service was held at Muslim Cemetery, Happy Valley, yesterday for two Pakistani policemen killed in Saturday’s shooting incident at Shataukok.
More than 500 friends and colleagues of the dead men attended the service, including the commissioner of Police, Mr E. Tyrer.
The bodies of the two policemen, now reposing at the International Funeral Parlour, North Point, are expected to be flown to Pakistan on Wednesday.
The Hon Dhun Ruttonjee and the Hon P.C. Woo paid a visit to the relatives of two of the three Chinese police officers killed in the shooting incident at Shataukok.
They expressed condolences and deepest sympathy to the dead men’s families on behalf of the Legislative Council.

***

South China Morning Post (10 Jul 1967)

Bullet Marks

Picture shows a wall of the Shataukok Rural Committee Building riddled with bullets fired on Saturday when more than 300 armed Chinese militia and demonstrators trapped 86 policemen in the building.

***

The Washington Post, Times Herald (10 Jul 1967)

Troops on Border, Hong Kong Hears

By Stanley Karnow

HONG KONG, July 9 – Red China was reliably reported to be sending troop reinforcements into the area bordering Hong Kong as Communist-inspired disorders continued to nag this British colony today.

According to informed sources here, an estimated battalion of Chinese soldiers are being deployed in the region facing the frontier village of Shataukok, where five Hong Kong policemen were killed in a skirmish with Chinese border guards on Saturday.

The sources said that elements of the Chinese battalion were seen late today aboard two motorized junks crossing Mirs Bay, an inlet on the China coast north of Hong Kong. About two Chinese Army regiments are normally stationed along China’s 2-mile border with this colony.

It was not clear tonight, however, whether the Chinse troops are entering the frontier zone to restore order, or if they intend to challenge the British battalion of Gurkhas that now occupy the Hong Kong side of the border.

British official here reported this evening that the situation in the frontier sector has been calm since the Gurkhas were sent into the area on Saturday afternoon.

In contrast, a series of flash demonstrations erupted today throughout the colony’s downtown districts. The worst of there, which broke out in the West Point Area of Hong Kong Island, resulted in the deaths of a policeman and two civilians.

The incident occurred, a Hong Kong government statement said, when police stopped about 150 Chinese schoolchildren distributing pro-Communist leaflets. A crowd gathered, and a policeman was killed by a sharpened cargo hook, whereupon the police fire, fatally wounding two demonstrators. [The Associated Press reported that a third rioter was shot and killed early Monday when a mob attacked police in the Wanchai district of Hong Kong Island.]

In other incidents today, mobs burned a bus, overturned two police cars and pasted up posters denouncing the Hong Kong administration.

Meanwhile, Britain and Red China exchanged diplomatic protests today over Saturday’s border violence, each accusing the other of having provoked the skirmish.

In a dispatch transmitted here, the official New China News Agency reported that Deputy Foreign Minister Lo Kuei-po handed a note this morning to the British charge d’affaires in Peking charging that Hong Kong police started the trouble by hiring at pro-rally on the Chinese side of the frontier.

Rejecting the Chinses charge, the British envoy, Donald Hopson, registered a “strong protest” in Peking at what Britain’s Foreign Office described as “the incursion into Hong Kong territory by armed demonstrators from the Chinese side of the frontier.

In its note, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the Chinese from the Hong Kong zone had crossed into China to join a rally denouncing the colony’s British authorities.

When they tried to return to their homes over the frontier, the note alleged, the Hong Kong Chinese were confronted by colonial police “throwing tear bombs and opening fire at them, and at the same time firing at our side.”

The Peking statement claimed that one Chinese was killed and eight were wounded by the Hong Kong police.

The note also acknowledged that “Chinese frontier guards” fired at the Hong Kong police, implying that the shooting was defensively motivated by the “atrocities and provocations from the British side.”

In addition, China demanded that Britain apologize for the “armed provocation” and “guarantee that no similar incidents occur in the future” as well as release demonstrators arrested in Shataukok last month.

After asserting yesterday that no Chinese soldiers were involved in Saturday’s incident, British authorities here switched their stand today, offering the opinion that the firing in the skirmish probably came from regular Chinese troops.

This opinion was advanced by Lt. Col. Ronald McAlister, commander of the Gurkha battalion that initially entered the border zone, who repeatedly referred to “Chinese soldiers” in an interview he gave today describing Saturday’s events.

While he did not actually see Chinese troops firing at his unit, McAlister said, his men were met by machine gun fire that was “unlikely to have come from lightly-armed militia.”

McAlister further suggested that the machine gun firing by the Chinese Army was mainly intended to be a “demonstration” and, unlike shooting by snipers, was short in duration.

***

Reuters 10 July 1967

Protest and counter-protest
Chinese note blames Britain and demands public apology

PEKING, Sunday

CHINA today lodged a strong protest with Britain over yesterday's clash at Shataukok on the Hong Kong border, but the British envoy here refused to accept it.

The Chinese protest accused the Hong Kong police of opening fire at a crowd of Chinese demonstrators and said that Chinese border guards had returned the fire.

Five Hong Kong policemen and one demonstrator were killed.

The British Charge d'Affaires, Mr. Donald Hopson, refused to accept to protest note when he had an interview today with the Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Lo Kuei-po, according to British sources here.

The interview

Mr. Hopson, who asked for the interview, lodged strong counter-protest at the firing from the Chinese side of the border, the sources said.

The Chinese Minister rejected Mr. Hopson's verbal protest and Mr. Hopson rejected the Chinese protest and refused lo accept the note, the sources added.

In the note, China blamed British authorities for starting the trouble and demanded a public apology.

The note demanded that the culprits responsible for the incident be punished and that Britain guarantee that no similar incidents occur in the future.

It said that compensation should be given to the relatives of those wounded or killed yesterday and those arrested in a previous incident in Shataukok on June 24 released.

Several people were arrested in Shataukok last month after a group of demonstrators attacked a police patrol and set fire to a police Land Rover.

Today's protest note alleged that Hong Kong police fired on Chinese inhabitants returning to the New Territories in Kowloon after holding a demonstration on the Chinese side of the border village of Shataukok.

It said that Chinese frontier, guards fired warning shots against "such atrocities and provocations, " but this were totally disregarded.

The note said that the Hong Kong police "continued to fire at the demonstrators, killing one and wounding eight of them."

"Our frontier guards also fired back at the policemen and riot police of the British  authorities in Hong Kong."

Alleging that the British had been stepping up their "Fascist suppression of the Chinese inhabitants in Hong Kong during the past two months, the note claimed that Britain had now gone further "to create tension along the border."

Meanwhile. in HONG KONG today the village of Shataukok was under a curfew.

A battalion of Gurkha troops who restored order guarded key points in the village, where the frontier runs down the main street. No incidents were reported up to early afternoon.

A Government spokesman insisted that the mob of about 1.000 Chinese who crossed into Hong Kong territory there yesterday and attacked the police were civilians.

- Concern -

They were "uncontrolled local communist elements, acting with the support of villagers across the border," and no uniformed personnel were involved, he said.

But the incident, coupled with demonstrations at two other border points, stirred concern here about worsening relations between the British Colony and China.

It followed a series of strikes and disorders and sparked by an industrial dispute.

A leading local newspaper columnist today urged that the Colony should try to re-establish its good relations with China and warned that "Peking can turn us upside down any time it wants to".

The Colony's entire 10,000 man police force and 2.000 auxiliaries were placed on alert for any more disorders.

Communist newspapers in Hong Kong praised the villagers of Shataukok and nearby areas for their valour in "routing the  military might of Britain in Hong Kong."

The Chinese-language newspapers, the Ta Kung Pao and the Wen Wei Po, accused the police of provoking the troubles and warned that if the British persist in their "sanguinary suppression" of Chinese compatriots in Hong Kong, they would be dealt with even greater punishment.

Both dailies did not mention the five fatalities suffered by the Hong Kong police in the border incident.- Reuter.