[1967 riots paper clippings] 16-21 May 1967 (English)

Photo from 18 May 1967

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SCMP, 16 May 1967

ASSURANCE BY GOVERNOR
No Change In Policy Of Keeping Law And Order
NEW PEKING MOVE

His Excellency the Governor, Sir David Trench, last night issued a statement reassuring the public that there had been no change in Government's policy of maintaining the law as impartially and as fairly as possible, and of not taking sides in industrial disputes.

The Governor added that any answer to Peking’s protest made yesterday alleging “sanguinary suppression” of Chinese workers and residents in Hongkong, must come from London, since it was made to a representative of the British Government.

In London, “AFP quotes informed sources as saying that Britain “would reject Peking’s allegations.

More than 100 people were given jail sentences ranging from one to 18 months yesterday when they appeared in Kowloon Courts on various charges of breach of curfew order, rioting, incitement to riot and unlawful assembly. In addition, a number of curfew breakers were fined while others were bound over. 

In Peking last night, Chinese demonstrators marched to the office of the British Charge d’Affaires and shouted slogans condemning the British authorities’ handling of unrest among Chinese workers in Hongkong, Reuter reports.

 About 50 demonstrators with flags and placards marched up and down the street outside the office and the neighbouring residence of the Charge d'Affaires. Mr Donald Hopson.

“The demonstration, which took place in darkness, lasted only a few minutes.

Demonstrators later began plastering anti-British slogans in Chinese characters on the brick wall of the compound surrounding the office and other slogans were pasted on apartment houses of British diplomats a quarter of a mile away.

The Chinese Government, meanwhile, followed up its accusations that Britain was carrying out “barbarous Fascist atrocities” in Hongkong, by placing a travel ban on Mr Hopson.

He was dueto leave Peking on Thursday with other mission heads for a diplomatic tour arranged annually within China.

But a Foreign Ministry Protcol Department official informed Mr Hopson that he and another British diplomat due to accompany him were forbidden to go on the trip.

The ban was imposed because of Britain’s actions in Hongkong, the official said.

In London, political observers were of the opinion that Britain appeared “highly unlikely” to accept Peking's demands.

- Toughening -

Peking’s move was seen on first study to reflect a marked toughening of its altitude toward Hongkong. 

But diplomatic quarters believed Peking was not likely to mar its own economic interests by a showdown over the Colony, according to UPI.

China is earning the equivalent of some U.S.$850m a year from trade through Hongkong, which is also proving an important channel for valuable transactions.

Peking’s uneasiness over the alleged use of American warships of Hongkong was believed to be the major motive behind the stepped-up pressures. 

Britain is expected to reiterate her assurances that she is not giving or planning to afford the United States base facilities in Hongkong and that facilities extended to American personnel will remain limited to mere recreation and rest.

(See also Pages 6, 7 & 22)

These two Pictures taken at Kai Tak Police Station reflect the relatively quiet situation in Kowloon yesterday. There was even time for police on stand-by duty to indulge in a little recreation but be nevertheless ready for a quick getaway to trouble spots if necessary.

***

Hong Kong On Guard

The Straits Times, 16 May 1967, Page 10

A quiet morning after the first curfew-free night in four days yesterday relieved the  worst of Hong Kong's fears, but left open the all important question. How far is Peking prepared to go? The statement handed to the British Charge d'Affaires minced no words. Couched in the flamboyant style of Peking's wall newspapers, it demanded that London humiliate itself pretty much as Lisbon did in Macao. The protest made no attempt to deal with the facts of the riots, or the industrial disputes which are their background. The British are barbarians, guilty of fascist atrocities, ignorant of the significance of the unparalleled cultural revolution, frightened out of their wits by the ever-victorious thoughts of Chairman Mao. The “sanguinary” outrages wholly perpetrated by the British authorities “show that they mortally fear and bitterly hate China's great proletarian revolution.” Peking's demands for satisfaction are pitched on the same note of hysteria; the release of everyone arrested, the punishment of those responsible for “the sanguinary atrocities,” and compensation for the victims.

The rest of the statement was no less remarkable, down to the warning that the struggle will be carried through to the end, linking the riots with an alleged British scheme of collusion with the Americans against China. Of one thing Peking can be certain. The British are doing not as much, but as little, as possible for the Americans. And if they weren't, Hong Kong would be the last place for conspiracy against China or for trouble making. The British do not have it in them to make trouble for China in Hong Kong. It would be madness. Peking must know it, In which ease what does this strong statement presage? Is the Chinese Government really ready to go the lengths it did against the Portuguese in Macao? The hush that fell over Hong Kong on Sunday night suggests that there may indeed be a difference. Someone seems to have given orders for the rioting to end.

But clearly there is plenty of gunpowder and fuel. Hope lies in the ability of the Communist sub-command in Hong Kong to convince Peking that there is indeed a difference between the British colony and the Portuguese enclave, that the British may not be prepared to be humiliated, and that China can only lose, not win, if the British are pushed to the wall. Chinese ability to take Hong Kong if Peking wants. it is unquestioned.

Hong Kong's salvation, for another decade or two, perhaps even longer, hangs on the equally self-evident fact that Hong Kong is of more use to Peking as it now is, in British hands, than in Chinese. In rational moments this is as clear to the hierarchy in Peking as to anyone else, although if there is irrationality in Peking it is going to be difficult for the lesser breed in Hong Kong to convince their cultural revolutionary brethren of it. They might look too much like petty capitalists. Yet facts are facts. Through Hong Kong come almost all of China’s foreign exchange earnings; most of it would go down the drain with Hong Kong.

Sharp as the Chinese reaction is, tense as the situation becomes now that Peking has declared its attitude, there is the saving grace that the statement handed to the British Charge d'Affaires is not a formal diplomatic protest. It will no doubt be answered, and Peking may be invited to test its account of events against the facts, Nor will sight be lost of the possibility that China's Foreign Minister, Chen Yi, who is himself an occasional target in the cultural revolution, may have accepted with gratitude an unusual opportunity to display his mettle. The most reassuring consideration of ali is that the demonstrations have not been widespread, and have been checked efficiently with obviously the minimum of force. The danger remains, but given a day or two of calm the material for a reasoned settlement will emerge.

***

SCMP, 16 May 1967

THE PEKING STATEMENT

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday on the recent Hongkong disturbances alters the position only in one essential aspect. It carries it from the local level to one of diplomacy between Westminster and Peking. There is nothing abnormal about this. The Colony is a dependent territory and its foreign affairs are the responsibility of the UK Government. Should the statement which, it may be noted, is described as just that further have the effect of exacerbating a situation that by all the evidence was in process of resolving itself in an orderly fashion, then there will be disappointment and regret. For it must be clear to all without axes to grind in this connection that the only thing the great majority of Hongkong residents desire is economic stability, the absence of agitation, freedom to get on with their jobs and provide education, food, clothing, accommodation and medical facilities for themselves and their families. If some young people want to chant the works of Mao Tse-tung, there are (as in the past) concert platforms in the City Hall and elsewhere available to them for this purpose. But the average Hongkongite has no stomach for politics as such and it is now up to him to say so in no uncertain fashion.

As for Government, its plain duty is to preserve law and order. In so doing, it will be supported to the hilt by all right-thinking people here. And this simple principle is really enough to dispose of the Peking statement's "five demands". Government has no objection ever to "just" demands; but their "justice" must be demonstrated 'either through the ordinary channels of labour negotiation or the court., There have been no "Fascist" measures, and one might add that there is a large enough body of Europeans (as well as Chinese) in the Colony who have had first-hand experience of these to make their emergence literally unthinkable. Arrested persons cannot be released. except by due process of law unless the independence of the judiciary is to be set at naught. As for the remaining demands, they depend on proof that "sanguinary atrocities" have occurred. They have not. And they will not, unless passions, fears and hatreds are fanned in this overcrowded but tranquil territory for ulterior motives. Riots, to be sure, cannot be allowed to develop untrammeled. But the only fatal casualty in the Sanpokong affair was one unlucky youth who was killed by "a large stone." Wherever that may have come from, it did not come from the Police.

***

SCMP, 16 May 1967

FOREIGN PRESS COMMENTS
Is Peking Trying To Show Who The Masters Are?

London. May 15.

The Guardian today asked if China was trying to do in Hongkong what she has done in Macao – show who are the masters.

In an editorial comment printed before the news of the official Chinese protest, the Guardian traced the roots of the riots in Hongkong to “notoriously Victorian” labour practices in the Colony and Maoist agitation.

The paper said: “The Communist newspapers in Hongkong are making the same sort of demands as were made by the rioters in Macao last year, and their supporters in Canton and Peking. They denounced the Governor and the ‘fascist’ atrocities of the police and insist on apologies.

- Controversies -

“In Macao they got virtually everything they asked for: They showed who were the masters. Are they seeking to do the same in Hongkong?” 

The Guardian said China had a number of controversies with Hongkong that she did not have with Macao. In. particular, Peking was accusing the British authorities of allowing the Colony to be used by the Americans as a base for the. Vietnam war.

"Is she trying to put pressure on them to allow only those ships they approve of to use the harbour?” the paper said.

“Perhaps, she would like to, but one can hardly believe that she has engineered these troubles with that intention. We are still not sure how consciously she engineered, rather than exploited, the Macao troubles…"

The Guardian concluded that although China would try to make the most of such advantages as the present riots gave it, “there is no reason yet to suppose she is trying to anticipate 1997 when the major part of Hongkong territories are due to revert to China.”

The Daily Telegraph commented that the riots were the direct result of a defence policy which created vacuums in foreign parts and doubts about the withdrawal of British troops.

Attacking what it called the Labour Government's “vacuum” policy in defence, an editorial in the paper said Hongkong had had its share of doubts and scares under the policy. 

Already a Royal Air Force squadron had been removed, a Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve establishment closed down, and, in October, the last Royal Naval ships, three minesweepers, would be pulled back to Singapore, the paper noted.

- Irritant -

It said that what was really worrying China, however, was the increasing use of Hongkong by American warships for recreational leave.

“The fact that the White Ensign would soon fly no longer over Hongkong waters, whereas the Stars and Stripes would, created one more irritant in a tense situation.”

In New York, Dr C. K. Yen, the visiting Nationalist Chinese Premier, called the riots a part of a Peking campaign of psychological warfare to capitalise on a narrow kind of Communism among overseas Chinese.

“They did it effectively in Macao and they want to do it in Hongkong, but in a different way,” he said. “They cannot afford to lose Hongkong. It is both an asset and a liability.

An Asian viewpoint came from Kuala Lumpur’s Malay Mail which said that a British ruled Hongkong was not expendable.

Britain knew that despite a legal right, her hold on Hongkong was by the sufferance of Peking. But she also knew that China had need of a British controlled Hongkong to suit Chinese purposes.

“A Portuguese Macao is expendable, but not a British Hongkong," the Mail added. It urged ' “the island’s troublemakers” to refrain from bringing ruin on their own people.

The “Manila Evening News said the riots were “fraught with dire portents for peace in this area.” 

“Obviously Communist-inspired, the riots could very well mean that the organised violence unleashed by Mao's cultural revolutions has spilled over into the Crown Colony,” the paper said.

- Familiar Pattern -

“The pattern is familiar: thousands of young Chinese rioters stone the police, smash vehicles, and set numerous fires in a thickly populated and strategic section of the city, while reports of impending strikes aimed at cutting off power and water throughout the Colony are assiduously and systematically disseminated among the populace,” “it added.

“The riots might well be interpreted, too, as a warning that Peking is revising its views on Hongkong as Red China’s window on the world.

“It is conceivably possible that its phenomenal inroads into the economy of the Crown Colony may kindle a new flame in the dazzling bonfire of Communist Chinese imperialism.”

As a British journalist and author had observed not too Jong ago, it said, if Hongkong had met China’s need, for a window on the world as a Crown Colony, Peking must be wondering if Hongkong would not be a better window yet if it were in its hands.

The newspaper added that “the fall of Hongkong into Communist hands would bring the threat of Communist aggression much closer to the Philippines. —UPI and Reuter.

***

SCMP, 16 May 1967

OVER 100 SENT TO PRISON

One hundred and twenty-three people were sent to jail at North Kowloon Court yesterday on various charges of breach of a curfew order, rioting, incitement to riot, unlawful assembly and throwing stones.

In addition, four people were fined and two acquitted of unlawful assembly. A 63-year-old man, found guilty of unlawful assembly, was bound over in $250 for one year.

The court was packed with relatives of the defendants and a number of women broke down in tears when they heard of the jail sentences passed on their relatives.

- Curfew Breakers -

Among the curfew breakers, 51 were jailed for one month to nine months. Two of them were fined $200 each.

Among the others jailed, 45 were sentenced to six to 18 months’ imprisonment for rioting, one jailed for 18 months for incitement to riot, and 26 sent to jail for three to six months for unlawful assembly.

In South Kowloon Court, a 38-year-old photographer accused of unlawful assembly objected to being remanded in custody when the prosecution asked for an adjournment.

The man, Tseung Shi, shouted before Mr C.H. Koh, the magistrate, and maintained that the hearing must continue. He also refused to be led away and claimed that he had been wrongly arrested.

- Murmurs -

A woman from the public gallery also shouted that Tseung was innocent and demanded his immediate release. At the same time, there were murmurs from the spectators in the public gallery.

Mr Koh rose from the bench but the spectators remained in the courtroom for some time after the court was adjourned.

Earlier, another defendant, Tse Kwong-chung (25), an apprentice, was found not guilty of a similar charge and discharged.

In Mr J.J. Rhind's court, a 16-year-old boy was jailed for four months for unlawful assembly. The boy was among a crowd that damaged traffic signs and set fire to vehicles in Takooling Road, Kowloon City, on Saturday, the court was told.

A plastic worker was fined $200 on a similar charge while a barber and a hawker were acquitted.

***

SCMP, 16 May 1967

TROUBLED NORTH KOWLOON RETURNS TO NORMAL

A few minor incidents yesterday marred an otherwise peaceful day in northeast Kowloon - scene of disturbances during the past few days.

Life, however, has slowly returned to normal, with shops re-opening and housewives going about their shopping.

The morning passed without incident but shortly after noon, workers began milling in the streets in Sanpokong.

Excitement heightened when six groups of about 30 people each filed through Tai Yau Street where the Hongkong Artificial Flower Works is situated.

- Attacked -

However, the marchers, all wearing Chairman Mao pins, left the scene shortly afterwards without incident.

In the afternoon, a left-wing Chinese newspaper reporter was attacked by a group of people.

He had just photographed someone posting a leftwing newspaper on the gate of the Flower Works when he was assaulted.

His camera and film were taken away. The camera was later found some distances away, slightly damaged.

Then at about 3.10 pm, a small group stoned the Sanpokong Post, Office, breaking almost every pane of window in the front.

About this time, another group of youths gathered outside the American Express office in Yin Hing Street and shook the iron grille. They dispersed when a police patrol arrived.

An hour later, a group of about 30 youths again assembled in Tai Yau Street. They stopped several private cars and forced the drivers to recite a short passage of Chairman Mao’s works.

Lorries and taxis were, however, not intercepted.

One private car driver refused to oblige, stepped on the accelerator and sped away, but not before his car was stoned by the crowd.

About half an hour later a police patrol arrived and the youths dispersed.

A glass panel of the main entrance of the Yaumati branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was broken when a group of men stoned the entrance about 11 am.

The men disappeared before police arrived. Two policemen were later posted outside the bank.

The branch was closed yesterday as it was a holiday.

About 100 workers continued to gather outside the Hunghom plant of the Green Island Cement Company yesterday.

They were visited by representatives of leftwing trade unions and business organisations. They joined the workers in reading Chairman Mao's thoughts.

It was learned that a Labour Department officer visited the workers in the morning to arrange a meeting between them and the management but his offer was turned down.

- Bus Services -

Mr E. Soares, the Chief Clerk at the cement works, declined to say whether the workers had collected their wages.

On Friday, the company announced that balance of wages due to the workers and severance pay would be handed to them at the works.

The workers left the scene at about 5.15 pm.

Meanwhile, bus services pea tween Choi Hung estate and Rennie’s Mill, home of refugees from the Mainland, were suspended yesterday.

An official of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company said the company had no choice but to suspend route 30 to Rennie’s Mill as some drivers arid conductors were reported to have been threatened by the residents there.

The residents were alleged to have threatened to burn the buses down if any pro-Communist slogans were found on them.

(Picture) A group of people surrounding two cars in front of the Hongkong Artificial Flowers factory in Sanpokong. The cars were later allowed to leave the scene without suffering any damage.

***

SCMP, 16 May 1967

Youth ‘Died Because Of Disturbance’

The mother of the only Kowloon disturbance fatality, said yesterday her 14-year-old son, Chan Wing-cheong alias Chan Kwong-shan, had been drawn to his death by the demonstrations.

The boy, who died of a forehead injury, was found bleeding profusely on a staircase of Block 28, Wongtaisin resettlement estate on Saturday morning.

A Government pathologist has said the boy’s death was consistent with injuries received from a large piece of stone.

Mrs Chan, a widow and mother of four children, two sons and two daughters, said in an interview in her Kun Tong flat, that her son was working as a shampoo boy in a Ngautaukok barber shop before his death.

She said Wing-cheong stopped going to school after his father died in 1964. Her son had always come home to sleep but on Friday, the day before his death, he did not return.

She added her son most probably was drawn to the Wongtaisin resettlement estate by the disturbance which broke out last Thursday in Sanpokong.

***

SCMP, 17 May 1967

DISTURBANCES DEPLORED
Statements Made By Many Organisations
COURT DEMONSTRATION

While demonstrators were chanting slogans outside a Kowloon court yesterday, civic leaders, leading businessmen, Government and non-Government organisations issued statements deploring the recent disturbances and urging that all disputes be settled at the conference table.

Hundreds of left-wing workers demonstrated for several hours outside the South Kowloon Magistracy where 20 people appeared on charges arising out of the disturbances in Sanpokong last week.

The Federation of Hongkong Industries, in a statement deploring the disturbances, gave warning that such situations could only bring about a loss of confidence in Hongkong’s stability and it was also likely that manufacturers already established in Hongkong would hesitate before expanding their operations.

In a joint appeal, Unofficial Members of the Urban Council called on residents to remain calm, respect the law and support Government in its efforts to find a fair and just solution to the present difficulties.

- Law And Order -

They pointed out that the livelihood of the people in Hongkong depended on the maintenance of law and order without which there could be no continued prosperity and happiness.

The Social Welfare Advisory Committee said that there was no place for the resorting to violence in the settlement of disputes and stressed that the good offices of the Labour Department be accepted by disputing parties.

Apart from the demonstrations at South Kowloon Court, there was only one minor incident in Sanpokong. Shortly before 3pm a young man was chased and assaulted by teenagers in Tseuk Luk Street.

- Posters -

There were no incidents outside the Hongkong Artificial Flower Works. A crowd gathered outside the main gate of the factory where left-wing newspapers were posted but did not linger for long.

Meanwhile, the posters which have been seen on Kowloon Motor Bus vehicles since Friday, had disappeared. A spokesman for the Motor Transport Workers Union said the KMB workers had themselves removed the posters with their approval.

However, posters appeared on Hongkong Island for the first time. Five posters and a left-wing newspaper were posted at the entrance to the main office of the Green Island Cement Co, in Des Voeux Road, Central.

Several groups were seen outside Government House yesterday reading quotations from Mr Mao's works. They left after handing in Notes of protest.

A Government spokesman announced last night that special arrangements were being made at Government House for the delivery of petitions and other notes. An authorised officer will receive petitions at the main gate.

(See also pages 6, 7, 8 and 10)

(Picture) Hundreds of people are seen leaving South Kowloon Magistracy in Gascoigne Road shortly after 5 pm yesterday, after the court had recessed. Crowds had demonstrated outside the court building for several hours while 20 men, arrested during the disturbances in Sanpokong last week, were being tried.

***

SCMP, 17 May 1967

Sanpokong Factory Incident Recalled
HEARING OF CHARGES AGAINST 20 BEGINS

An incident at the Hongkong Artificial Flower Works, in which 20 workers were arrested by police for throwing bottles and pieces of wood, was recalled in South Kowloon Court yesterday.

Mr Lau-Chiu-ho, general supervisor of the factory, was describing the incident when giving evidence against the men. Charged were: Pang Fai (33), Tang Hung (27), Leung Mi-fat (24), Tsang Kin (27), Lai Hong-lam: (25), Chow Chung-shing (40), Wong Yip-to (25), Wong Kang-ling (25), Siu Kim-fai (31), Law Chung-wan (30), Lam Luk (25), Chung Yuk-fong (25), Ku Yuk-kan (40), Mak Ming (19), Yau For-wai (38), Cheung Kan-leung (27), Lee Sing (25), Auyeung Chun-keung (40), Fung Kam-shing (20), and Ng Ping-ming (25).

They were all charged with unlawful assembly, except Cheung Kan-leung who was discharged when police offered no evidence against him, but who still faces a charge of disorderly conduct.

- Intimidation -

Wong Kang-ling and Siu Kim-fai were additionally charged with intimidating Mr Hung Piu, a foreman at the factory, and with assaulting him. They denied all charges.

Giving evidence, Mr Lau said that more than 700 men were employed at the factory. He could identify all but four of the defendants.

About 4.30 pm on May 6 he was in charge of delivering goods. He tried to take 427 bales of goods out of the factory and load them on to a lorry but the bales were thrust back by people outside.

He telephoned the police then returned to the scene. He saw Mr Hung Piu, a foreman, surrounded by many workers. The lorry was not in sight.

About 20 minutes later, the police arrived. A worker complained that he had been assaulted by Mr Hung and police asked both men to go to the station.

- Explanation -

Police explained to the crowd that the assault was one matter, and the obstruction of goods was another. When the police tried to leave with Mr Hung to go to the police station, the workers would not allow them to leave. Others shouted that Mr Hung should be locked up.

Mr Lau said there were about ten people (police and Mr Hung) surrounded by about 200. Bottles and chairs were thrown at them. Shortly afterwards an anti-riot squad arrived and some arrests were made.

Cross-examined by the defendants, Mr Lau disagreed when some said that they did not throw bottles. Many defendants accused Mr Lau of lying. One man claimed that the men were gathered to engage in a “righteous struggle” and there was no need for them to throw bottles at ten policemen.

The hearing, before Mr D. A. Davis, will continue this morning. The magistrate allowed each man a personal bond of $200 to appear.

Det Insp C. K. Chan prosecuted. 

***

SCMP, 17 May 1967

SEVEN-HOUR DEMONSTRATION OUTSIDE KOWLOON COURT

A hostile crowd of about 300 left-wing workers chanted slogans and sang revolutionary songs outside South Kowloon Magistracy in Gascoigne Road for nearly seven hours yesterday while 20 men arrested in Sanpokong last week were being tried.

This was the only major incident in an otherwise calm and normal Kowloon as people went about their daily business as usual after the Whit Monday holiday.

Sanpokong and several resettlement areas in northeastern Kowloon which were the scene of disturbances last week, were calm with all the shops and restaurants open for business.

At the Hunghom plant of the Green Island Cement Co. Ltd, three anti-British banners were displayed as about 100 workers gathered outside the factory.

In the morning, 20 workers talked for two hours with Mr E. Brooker, the company's Managing Director. No settlement was reached, however.

- Chanted Slogans -

A crowd of left-wing workers, wearing Mao badges and carrying books of Mao's Thoughts, appeared in South Kowloon Magistracy about 9 am.

They chanted slogans when the magistrate, Mr D. A. Davis, began the day’s sitting, and created such a noise that Mr Davis had to adjourn the hearing to 2.30 pm.

At the same time, about 150 people left in the corridor outside the packed courtroom demanded that the door be left open “to ensure a fair trial” for the men.

After hearing was adjourned, the crowd remained in the building chanting slogans, reading Mao's quotations and singing “revolutionary songs.”

They dispersed about noon in an orderly manner.

About 1.50 pm, they returned and found the gate of the court building locked.

[The decision to lock the gate was made after a conference earlier between Mr Davis and Mr Dermot Rea, Director of Public Prosecutions.]

The crowd turned hostile. They denounced the police, calling them “Yellow Face Running Dogs,” and also threatened press photographers who were taking pictures of them.

- Quietened Down -

After more chanting, singing and demands that the gate be opened, the demonstrators quietened down and behaved themselves.

About 2.45 pm, the crowd attracted the support of about 50 taxi drivers. They stopped their cars in the middle of Gascoigne Road, behind Astor Theatre for about ten minutes.

Two traffic policemen were jeered at by passers-by and demonstrators as they were clearing the traffic.

The number of people greatly increased when filmgoers left the Astor Theatre after the 2.30 show of “Chairman Mao is the Red Sun in Our Heart.”

The crowd milled about for more than three hours. There were, however, no serious incidents.

About 5.15 pm, the demonstrators at the gate of the court building began to leave. Holding hands in twos and threes, they marched down Gascoigne Road into Nathan Road. Spectators cheered and applauded.

During the demonstrations, they were given refreshments. About ten men, some of them wearing the uniforms of Pearl River Aerated Water Co, distributed soft drinks, fruit and cakes.

- Minor Incident -

There was only one minor incident in Sanpokong. Shortly before 3pm, a young man was chased and assaulted by four teenagers in Tseuk Luk Street. The man ran into Choi Hung Road and disappeared into the Wongtaisin resettlement estate.

About half an hour later about 40 workers wearing Mao badges marched along Tseuk Luk Street into Tai Yau Street. They paused briefly at the Hongkong Artificial Flowers Works, marched back to Tseuk Luk Street and did not return.

There was no gathering outside the artificial flower factory, nor were there any posters on its walls but copies of two left-wing newspapers were pasted up near the main gate.

Meanwhile, the posters that had been appearing on Kowloon buses since Friday, had disappeared. A spokesman for the Motor Transport Workers Union said the KMB workers had themselves removed the posters with the approval of the KMB branch of the union.

However, posters appeared on Hongkong Island for the first time. Five of them and a copy of a left-wing newspaper were pasted on the entrance of the central office of the Green Island Cement Co, in Des Voeux Road Central.

More leftist groups went to the Government House yesterday, reading Mao's quotations and leaving behind notes of protest with the ADC.

Among them were representatives from four leftist film studios, the Ta Kung Pao, two separate committees of the Association against Hongkong and British Suppression, the Hongkong and Kowloon Main Association of Plastic and Rubber Trates and the Hongkong Seamen’s Union.

The weekend disturbances also caused the price of commercial gold to jump by three dollars a tael.

The closing rate yesterday was $267.50 a tael, compared with Saturday's rate of $264.25.

The Hongkong Stock Exchange opened yesterday after a three-day holiday but there were no dealings at all, and the rates of various stocks remained nominal.

***

SCMP, 17 May 1967

Situation Urged
Resumption Of Work Requested

One hundred workers of the Hongkong Artificial Flowers Factory in Sanpokong have signed a petition to the management requesting resumption of work.

The petition was presented to the Labour Department by their representatives who also asked the Labour Department to arrange talks with the management.

The petition reads, in part: “The branch factory has closed since April 28. We fellow workers were plunged into the predicament of unemployment and difficulties. We therefore jointly ask for the resumption of work.

- Financial Aid -

“The current labour crisis, unprecedented in this branch factory, has rendered both the management and the workers in a very difficult position. We the majority of the workers of the factory, quite understand the management's attitude. It usually would give financial assistance to workers whenever it was asked for.

“Now the saboteurs were making trouble which is not what we want. We hope that the management will give us a reply as soon as possible,”

On May 8, six workers claiming to represent 200 or more workers in the factory approached the Labour Department to convey to the management their request to return to work.

A joint meeting between these representatives and management took place in the Labour Department two days later when both parties agreed in principle to a resumption of work. This resumption, however, did not take place because of disturbances on Thursday.

(Picture) A reproduction of the petition showing the signatures of 100 workers

 ***

SCMP, 17 May 1967 (Page 6)

‘Stay Calm, Support Govt’

Unofficial members of the Urban Council last night appealed to residents to remain calm, respect the law and support Government in its efforts to find a fair and just solution to the present difficulties.

The Councillors are made up of people of different race, calling and background, and live in many parts of Hongkong and Kowloon.

They pointed out in a joint appeal that the livelihood of the people in Hongkong depended on the maintenance of law and order without which there could be no continued prosperity and happiness.

They said: “Hongkong has achieved much for the better life of its citizens. There has been a quickening tempo of achievement, notably in the fields of housing, education and provision of recreational facilities.

“We believe that even more progress will be made to improve the living conditions of the people of all sections of the community will co-operate closely to achieve this aim.”

- Impartial -

They believed Government had striven to be impartial in the current labour disputes and acted only to maintain law and order.

“All riotous behaviour must be deplored,” they said." It upsets the orderly progress of the community and ruins the livelihood of the entire population.

“Therefore we, the Unofficial Members of the Urban Council, appeal to the people to remain calm, respect the law, and support the Hongkong Government in its efforts to find a fair and just solution to the present difficulties.”

Those signing the appeal were; Mr Brook Bernacchi, QC, Dr R. H. S. Lee, Mr Li Yiu-bor, Dr P, F. Woo, Mr. Hilton Cheong-Leen, Mr A. de O. Sales, Dr Alison Bell, Mr J. L. Marden, the Hon Wilfred S. B. Wong, Mr Wilson T. S. Wang, Mr Cheung Wing-in, Mrs Elsie Elliott, the Hon Mrs Ellen Li Shu-pui, Mr Solomon Rafeek, Mr Henry H. L. Hu, Mr Daniel Lam See-hin, Mr R. H. Lobo, Mr H. M. G. Forsgate, Mr Kenneth Lo Tak-cheung and Mr Peter Ng Ping-kin.

***

 SCMP, 17 May 1967 (Page 8)

Newspaper Comment On Peking’s Demands

Leftist newspapers yesterday unanimously endorsed the statement issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Peking making five demands on Hongkong in connection with the disturbances in Kowloon.

Comment from the right-wing vernacular press on the other hand supported the statement made by His Excellency the Governor and one publication, the Tin Tin Yat Po interpreted the Peking protest as a deliberate attempt to move the issue from the Hongkong scene to Peking and London.

The newspaper was of the opinion that the move on the part of the Chinese authorities indicated that the issue had no connection with the Chinese Communist Party.

- Encouragement -

However, the Tin Tin pointed out that to all appearances the Peking protest and warning served the purpose of encouraging the leftist elements to attack the Hongkong Government.

Referring to the five demands in the statement, the newspaper said it mentioned nothing about the worker's agitation for better treatment which was the primary cause of the disturbances.

It pointed out that the demands by the local leftists also ignored the workers’ demand for better working conditions.

The Wah Kiu Yat Po regarded the Governor's explanation of Government’s impartial attitude towards labour-management disputes as the most important feature of his statement. It added: “Unequivocally and clearly, every Hongkong citizen should stand firm with determination to support unconditionally the Governor's statement and Government policy to consolidate the Colony's security and jointly cope with the unsettled situation.

The Kung Sheung Daily News urged the community to give positive support to the various Government measures in maintaining peace and order in the Colony. The newspaper believed that the British Government would “attach importance to facts and cope with Peking’s protest appropriately” in a manner that would not cause disappointment to the community.

The Sing Tao Jih Pao and the Hongkong Times appealed to all righteous-thinking people not to be fooled by leftist propaganda.

The New Life Evening Post called on the community to remain calm and to cope with the present situation without undue haste and unswervingly.

- Lack Of Leadership -

The Ming Pao decried the lack of leadership among the community. It said:”We need in the months and years to come, in which the Colony is bound to face more difficulties, courageous and righteous-minded people standing out to serve the community, but we do not need those people who disappear in a time like the present and re-appear after the storm to pursue their private interests and make a show.”

The leftist Wen Wei Pao claimed that all Hongkong compatriots warmly welcomed the statement issued in Peking by the Foreign Ministry and expressed “infinite gratefulness and wholehearted supports... Thus, people are filled with more confidence in their victory.” The newspaper compared the “Hongkong compatriots’ struggle” with that of “Macao compatriots,” adding that the struggle was not isolated.

It said that since the Hongkong British authorities “have manufactured bloody incidents again and again in a planned, premeditated way, carried on cruel persecution, wantonly arrested innocent people and injured several hundred compatriots, all Hongkong compatriots naturally rise for self-defence and resistance.”

The newspaper said that “the Chinese people cannot be bullied”” and warned that should the Hongkong British authorities fail to rein in on the brink but continue to act without heeding advice, then they would sink into the boundless sea of the anti-persecution struggle and invite a disastrous end.”

The Ta Kung Pao commented in similar vein.

***

SCMP, 17 May 1967 (Page 6)

Realistic Approach To
COMMENTS BY LEADING CITIZENS ON KOWLOON DISTURBANCES

Leading educationists and businessmen alike yesterday appealed to residents to keep their heads, to respect the law and help Government to maintain order in the Colony.

They agreed that the disturbances should be checked immediately lest they lead to the Colony losing its image as a business and tourist centre.

They also pointed to the urgent need for adopting a realistic approach to the situation and urged residents not to be misled by rumours.

Professor K. E. Robinson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hongkong, called on residents to join Government in supporting every possible means to ensure an atmosphere conducive to stability and order.

It was only in this atmosphere that it would be possible to examine further, the problems that might have given rise to the recent disturbances, he said.

Prof Robinson said he was very much impressed by the statement on Monday of the Federation of Hongkong Students which had asked the Colony’s youths not be guided by their impulse, emotions or rumours. 

“This statement is very sensible and forthright, the essential points are pretty well covered and I for one would gladly support it,” he said.

He urged all those concerned to come together to speak of their real grievances in the disputed issues and support all actions directed to the re-establishment of peace Hongkong.

Prof Robinson pointed out that the need to maintain stability in the Colony was of vital importance to the prosperity of Hongkong.

Dr Li Choh-ming, Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hongkong, said he felt sure that everyone in the Colony was concerned with the maintenance of law and order.

“I am happy to see the Kaifong organisations are now voicing their concern and asking parents to pay special attention to their children.”

- Most sensible -

The Rev. G. L. Speak, Principal of St Paul’s College, said he supported the Governor’s statement on the Kowloon disturbances. “I think Sir David has said what is usefully to be said and his advice is the most sensible one at this stage,” he said. Mr Speak declined to comment further on the riot.

The headmistress of a leading girls’ school said that, as an educationist, she would advise pupils to “carry on their studies as normal and remain calm, not listen to rumours

Mr K. Hopkin-Jenkins, formerly a Vice-Chairman of the Hongkong Labour Party, said the demonstrations marked “the birth of a new Hongkong nationhood” and that the people of Hongkong “are more united today than they have ever been.”

A spokesman for the Hongkong Tourist Association recalled that the Kowloon riots last year had no effect whatsoever on the tourist trade.

The disturbances this time might have no effect at all, he said. However, it was very difficult to assess the effect at this stage.

Up to the present moment he had not heard of any cancellation or tourists checking out of the hotels because of the disturbances.

“It will take three to six months to assess the actual effect,” he added.

“If there’s an adverse effect, Hongkong’s tourist industry will simply have to work harder than ever before to re gain any loss of business.

“The Colony has gone through many troubles at other times and we always managed to pull through. We could do it again,” he, concluded with confidence.

Captain A. George, Hon Secretary of the Hongkong Hotels Association, said Hongkong was a tourist centre and the people who would suffer because of the disturbances would be the people who live and work here.

- Tourists -

He said that the Colony needed more hotels but if the investors were afraid, there would be less investment.

Tourists were still very calm at present and so far he had not heard of tourists leaving in a hurry.

A spokesman for a leading Chinese bank said the dispute had caused a certain uneasiness among businessmen.

He hoped the disturbances would die down soon.

Mr Mohan Gidumal, National President of the Hongkong Junior Chamber of Commerce, said Hongkong, being a centre for trade and commerce, had very little room for international politics.

Politics could very much affect Hongkong’s international trading position, he added.

Mr Fung Kam-chung, Chairman of the South China Paper Merchants Association, said he hoped the disputes could be settled at the earliest possible time at the conference table. He said one way or other, the present disturbances had affected the livelihood of some of the population bere.

Mr Hari Harilela, a leading businessman, said the labour dispute should be settled peacefully between the workers and their management.

He sald it was too early to assess the effect of the disturbances.

Mr, L. C. Diespecker, a well-known businessman, said he agreed with the statement made by the Governor.

He said the disturbances must have certain effects on the tourist trade. It also affected industry here.

Mr. Manek Divecha, managing director of the Central Commercial Corporation, who has been in the Colony for the past 20 years, supported Government's action but thought it could do more.

- Compromise -

“If Government was to make some sort of a compromise at the initial stages of labour disputes, I don’t think we would have these troubles. It is up to Government to make a compromise,” said Mr Divecha.

As long as the Green Island Cement Factory was having labour problems there was a danger of further riots, Mr Divecha said. It was out of this workers’ unrest that trouble boiled and left-wing factions took advantage of it.

But Mr Divecha did not think the riots were organised. “If it was a planned effort, then the trouble would not have subsided so soon,” he said.

***

'Hang Wilson' cry: Straw effigy of British Premier burned...

The Straits Times, 17 May 1967, Page 1

PEKING, Tuesday - CHINESE demonstrators today set fire to a straw effigy of British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in protest against the actions of British authorities in Hong Kong.

Tens of thousands of chanting Chinese marched to the office of the British Charge d’Affaires here this morning carrying placards demanding in English “Hang Wilson” and “Down with British imperialism.”

They marched in long, disciplined columns from all parts of the city to protest over the way British authorities in Hong Kong handled leftist demonstrations last week.

Red Guards smothered the walls of the British office and the neighbouring home of the Charge d’Affaires, Mr. Donald Hopson, with big black Chinese slogans.

One said: “We strongly protest against British imperialist fascist outrages, you British imperialist bastards.” The demonstrations began building up after British diplomats had arrived in the office at 8.30 am.

- Walk-out -

About an hour later the 20 or so Chinese staff marched out of the gates together waving booklets of Mao's quotations and shouting slogans.

They said that they had to attend a meeting.

Written slogans pasted on the roadway outside the front gate said: “Down with British imperialism. Signed—all Chinese staff of the office of the British Charge d’Affaires.”

Loudspeaker vans parked on either side of the gates kept up a continual broadside of anti-British slogans.

The crowds of demonstrators massed in the open gateway but did not attempt to enter the compound. They allowed the diplomats to leave but shouted slogans in their faces.

- At the gates -

The crowd outside the gate of the British office chanted over and over again “Down with British imperialism,” “Down with U.S. imperialism.” and “Down with Soviet revisionism.”

The demonstration appeared likely to go on all day, as thousands more demonstrators formed up in other parts of the city.

Other personal attacks to the British Prime Minister included a slogan on the compound wall which said, “Shoot Wilson.“

Demonstrators also began painting similar anti-Wilson slogans in whitewash just inside the open gate of the office.

A large crowd of demonstrators broke into a British diplomat’s house in Shanghai today and wrecked everything in it.

The diplomat, Mr Peter Hewitt, his wife and three children were unhurt.

This was believed to have been the first time that Chinese had broken into a foreign diplomat’s house in the recent series of demonstrations against foreign missions in China.

Targets of earlier demonstrations have included the Soviet, French, and Yugoslav Embassies here.

- Quiet again -

Mr. Hewitt, who is 37, is a First Secretary and has previously served in Malaya and North Borneo.

In HONG KONG, non-Communist elements began to rally forces today to counter Communist threats to engulf this British crown colony “in an ocean of people's warfare.”

At the same time, a Kowloon court magistrate ignored threats from Peking and slogan-shouting local leftists and began a hearing of 20 people arrested in connection with last week's riots.

Some leftist groups called at Government House to present a protest to the Governor, Sir David Trench, about alleged police “atrocities”.

There were scattered minor demonstrations and hundreds of wall posters denouncing the British were pasted on walls and buildings mostly in Kowloon. But generally the situation was calm and quiet.

Business resumed as usual.

Main activity during the day by the leftists was a cement plant shut down earlier this month by a leftist-backed labour dispute and the South Kowloon magistracy.

At the end of the day, gangs of Chinese youths began stopping cars in the San Po Kong industrial disrict of Kowloon, and forcing drivers to get out and read huge wall posters they had put up.

Most of the cars halted by the youths were driven by Chinese. A few were driven by Europeans but most of them did not stop.

Leaders of more than 100 non-Communist labour organisations met and agreed to organise a “committee for the protection of workers security” and to help maintain law and order.

- Anti-Reds -

Some press reports said a rightwing trade union council was trying to recruit a half-million members for the new committee to counter the leftist groups.

These reports said the rightwing workers decided to oppose the leftists by force, if necessary.

The Social Welfare advisory committee called for peaceful methods to settle labour disputes and said there was no place for violence in the community.

Leaders of 32 associations are to meet tomorrow to discuss ways resolving the present crisis and preventing it from becoming worse and threatening the stability of Hong Kong.

The communist New Evening Post reported that leftist organisations in the colony held a meeting at a workers’ club today to inaugurate formally an “anti-suppression fighting committee of all compatriots in Hong Kong and Kowloon.”

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 1)

Government’s Pledge To Keep Law And Order

The Legislative Council, meeting in its usual quiet decorum yesterday, heard a firm statement of Government’s intention to keep, maintain and, where necessary, restore peace and order in Hongkong.

The quiet of the Council was ensured, however, with a ring of senior police officers posted round the chambers at the Colonial Secretariat Building and a number of plain-clothes detectives seated in the gallery.

There was no incident.

It was Government's intention to keep the peace in Hongkong without any changes in policy and get settled the labour difficulties which had preceded violence in the Colony’s streets, the Hon M. D. I. Gass, Colonial Secretary, told the Governor, Sir David Trench, who presided over the meeting despite his post-operative recuperation.

Mr Gass paid tribute to police restraint under “very difficult circumstances, that had kept casualties small and countered the escalation of disturbances without military aid.”

- Reply Awaited -

He hoped the Government in Britain would not be too long delayed in answering the Peking Government's statement on political differences.

Getting rid of the disturbances’ basic causes - the labour arguments of two factories - called for “the goodwill and the spirit of good reason on both sides in these disputes,” he observed, adding: “I hope that both the managements and the workers’ unions concerned will come together and realise that what is happening now is disturbing Hongkong unnecessarily.

The Commissioner of Labour was doing all he could to get the parties together, but was having difficulty in finding “mutual ground,” Mr Gass stated.

Mr Gass was answering a request by the Hon P. C. Woo, supported by the Hon P. Y. Tang, for further information on the current position in the Colony.

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 1)

KOWLOON NIGHTLIFE AT A STANDSTILL
Curfew Re-imposed After Rampage Of Rioting
CRIMINAL ELEMENTS

Nightlife in the tourist heartland of Tsimshatsui came to a standstill last night when Southwest Kowloon was placed under a curfew after further demonstrations outside the South Kowloon Court led to renewed violence.

This time the rioters vented their hysteria on banks, stoning and breaking windows in several establishments, and even causing small fires in two branches in Mongkok. Outbreaks of violence continued into the night.

However, police now feel that the demonstrations, which grew out of industrial disputes, have been grasped by criminal elements as an opportunity to develop violence.

"Police who have been fighting to contain the riots in the Nathan Road area throughout today have reported seeing known criminal elements in the crowds.” Mr. H. J, Carlyle, Superintendent of the Shamshuipo Police Division, said last night.

These people were trying to tell crowds when to demonstrate, he added.

Policemen were again stoned continually and the mobs also pounded an hotel (sic) in Tsimshatsui as well as rooting up road signs and trying to set fire to cars.

But while the mobs were busy, causing another curfew after three nights without one, Government’s actions in maintaining law and order were drawing increasing and more widespread support.

- Widespread Appeals -

Business, civic, social and religious bodies issued statements deploring the violence which first struck the Colony a week ago and appealing to citizens to dissociate themselves from demonstrations.

The Hongkong Kaifong Research Council yesterday formed a seven-member special committee to look into the causes of the Kowloon disturbances and to make suggestions.

One of the suggestions discussed yesterday was that Government deal leniently with the people who were arrested in connection with the riots and that they be allowed to return to their work.

The curfew, which went into effect at 7.30 pm, covered the Southwest Kowloon area bounded by Boundary Street in the north, the railway in the east, Austin Road in the south and the waterfront in the west.

But although the area under curfew became calm, violence continued to occur in areas outside it. The authorities then decided to extend the curfew, at midnight to include Shamshuipo, Kowloon Tong, Shekkipmei and Laichikok.

The curfew was to end at 4 am.

During the curfew, Princess Margaret Road and Chatham Road remained open to allow traffic to pass through to North Kowloon.

Even though it was not put under curfew, Tsimshatsui eventually came to a standstill with many nightclubs, bars, restaurants and theatres closing their doors and hotels and shops putting up wooden or iron grilles.

 (Continued on Back Page, Col.4)

CURFEW RE-IMPOSED IN KOWLOON

(Continued from Page 1)

Shortly after 9 pm, the section of Nathan Road between Haiphong Road and Austin Road was in darkness as the lights had been blacked out.

The area was constantly under the spotlight surveillance of a helicopter.

All bus services from the “Star” Ferry stopped running soon after the curfew began. Some Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry services were affected but not the “Star” Ferry service to the Island.

Posters supporting leftists demands had been pasted up on the ferries of both companies.

More than 50 policemen and detectives were stationed at the South Kowloon Court compound, equipped with walkie-talkies before the court started its sessions at 9 am.

Everyone, including judges and magistrates, had to pass an identity check before they could enter the court.

- Jumped Bail -

The first drama came when it was discovered that 20 defendants had “jumped bail.”

At 9 am, a group of about 30 men, dressed in white shirts and blue trousers, attempted to gain entry, but they were refused. They stood on the stairway for 20 minutes before marching away.

As they stood on the stairway, they had attracted scores of people who gathered opposite the court building and at the junction of Gascoigne Road and Nathan Road and in the park nearby.

As the group was moving away, the people on the other side of the road began to jeer the police and call them “running dogs.”

Several teenagers in the group began throwing stones at the policemen, some of whom were then standing on the court's staircase. The policemen retreated back into the compound.

The crowd by then had grown to more than 400, and many of the people started to throw bottles and stones at the police, who were standing behind the wiring of the court.

The crowds which had gathered along the side streets began to expand and many passers-by in Nathan Road, near the Astor Theatre, were stopped by the hostile mobs and searched.

A European woman was chased but she managed to escape.

At this time, the police riot squads arrived, and were booed loudly. Two European inspectors, holding loud hailers, warned the crowds to disperse. The only response they drew was a hail of stones and both men were injured.

By 1.30 pm, the crowd at the junction of Gascoigne Road and Nathan Road was estimated to total more than 3,000 people and the police were reinforced by two companies.

The rioters attacked the ticket office of the Royal Hongkong Jockey Club adjacent to the Astor Theatre. About ten teenagers attempted to break open the iron grille of the office but were unsuccessful. They threw stones and broke the glass windows and even took down the air-conditioner.

The teenagers gathered bamboo baskets and sprinkle kerosene on them to start a fire. They then threw lighted sticks into the Jockey Club office through the broken windows.

On seeing the office alight, the riot squad advanced and put out the blaze.

A private car, parked along Nathan Road, near the Fortuna Hotel, was pushed out into the street by the rioters and set on fire. The blaze was also put out by the police when they advanced as the crowds dispersed into the side streets.

Police fired a tear gas shell at Pak Hoi Street and a man was arrested in the area.

A European taking photographs of the disturbances was reported to have been beaten up by the crowd but he later managed to escape by running towards Tsimshatsui.

As police dispersed the crowds in the Yaumati area, another large crowd marched towards the Mongkok area and about 100 people stoned cars outside the Bank of East Asia Building in Nathan Road.

- Burglar Alarms -

Shortly before 5 pm, the burglar alarms were sounded at the Chartered Bank in Nathan Road and at the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank in Portland Street.

A group of youths, led by a middle-aged man, stoned the Bank of America’s Kowloon branch in Nathan Road. Another crowd also stoned the Royal Theatre.

Small fires broke out in both the Bank of East Asia and the the (sic) Bank of America. They were quickly put out by firemen and police, despite being stoned on the way.

A small fire also broke out in the Sun Ya Restaurant and firemen who went to the scene were again stoned. Another crowd also stoned the Mainland Fire Headquarters formerly the Mongkok Police Station.

Just before the curfew came into force at 7.30 pm, two crowds, each of about 1,000, were milling outside the Fortuna Hotel and the Alhambra Building in Nathan Road and stones were being thrown.

The crowds then moved right into Tsimshatsui and gathered outside the Miramar Hotel, stopping cars. Road signs were turn up and left lying in Nathan Road.

Half an hour after the curfew had been imposed, the riot police moved in to deal with a crowd of about 200 who were uprooting traffic signs near the junction of Austin Road and Kimberley Road.

At 9pm, a police spokesman said that although all was quiet in the curfew zone there were still a number of stone throwing incidents outside the curfew area and street barricades had been set up in a number, of streets.

A mob of about 300 at the junction of Boundary Street and Taipo Road tore town street signs and threw them on to the road.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Building in Laichikok Road and the Post Office in Un Chau Street were stoned by groups of people.

- Stoned -

Shortly after 10 pm, it was reported that the Shell petrol station in Taipo Road, near Nam Cheong Street was stoned by a crowd.

The Dao Heng Bank in Castle Peak Road was also stoned.

At 10.40 pm, police reported that a crowd had set fire to the branch office of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, at the junction of Kiu Kiang Street and Castle Peak Road.

Up to this time, 42 arrests had been made by the police and a total of 32 policemen and two civilians were injured. The police had fired 68 teargas shells, nine gas cartridges and 68 baton shells.

Sixteen men were arrested on a rooftop in connection with the stoning of another petrol station in Tong Mei Road and were taken to the Mongkok Police Station. One man was reported to be slightly injured.

Shortly after midnight ten people were seen collecting stones and wooden planks outside the Hang Seng Bank building at the junction of Nam Cheong Street and Tai Po Road.

At the same time, another Chinese attired in dark clothing was seen riding a bicycle in the vicinity. The man was believed to be liaising with other groups of people. Police were keeping him under observation.

Two leftwing (sic) representatives yesterday managed to squeeze through the one-foot gap in the main gate of Government House and remained inside for about 45 minutes singing songs and shouting the quotations of Mr Mao Tse-tung.

Both men came from a party representing a group of Green Island Cement Company, Ltd, workers.

The gates had been chained so that there was a gap of no more than one foot.

Altogether nine parties of about 90 people from various leftwing organisations showed up at Government House between 11 am and 5 pm to lodge petitions - for the reception of which special provisions had been made.

However, some parties did not present their petitions when they learned that they had to remain outside and the ADC would receive their petitions from the inside.

In the afternoon, the Governor, Sir David Trench, left Government House to attend a Legislative Council meeting without incident.

Life returned to normal yesterday in Sanpokong and the adjoining resettlement districts where disturbances broke out several days ago.

There were fewer workers outside of the Hunghom works of the Green Island Cement Company compared with previous days.

(See also Pages 6 and 8)

***

SCMP, 18 May (Page 6)

Don’t Join Crowds, Police Say

Members of the public have been warned to leave a crowd scene when ordered to do so by police.

A message from the Commissioner of Police said: “When the police have to disperse a hostile crowd they cannot necessarily distinguish between hooligans and casual spectators.

“All persons should avoid joining large crowds, elements of which may be intending to cause disorder.

“If you are caught in a crowd which is ordered by the police to disperse it is your duty and in your own interest to leave the scene as rapidly as possible”.

***
SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 6)

Overseas Press Comments:
STATUS QUO OF COLONY ‘WILL NOT BE DISTURBED’

The overseas press yesterday gave divergent views on the present disturbances in Hongkong and Peking’s demands to Britain.

In editorials quoted by news agencies, they expressed the belief, however, that for the present, Peking would do nothing to disturb the political status quo.

The Melbourne Herald said Peking appeared to be exploiting what would otherwise be a minor industrial dispute between Chinese employers and workers.

It said Chinese demands on Hongkong were an attempt to demonstrate that the British Colony survived on China's sufferance alone.

“But for the present,” it said, “it is not likely to be carried to the point where Britain would have to choose between complete humiliation or (sic) withdrawal from Hongkong.”

The New York Times said the danger to Hongkong in the crisis Peking was fabricating, stemmed primarily from the streak of irrationality that had characterized China’s cultural revolution.

It said: “China acquires 40 per cent of her foreign exchange in Hongkong, mostly through selling food, water, raw materials and manufactures to the Crown Colony for hard currency. Chinese seizure of Hongkong would therefore be economically self-defeating.

“In fact, anything that undermines law and order, business confidence and tourism is sure to curb Hongkong’s prosperity and consequently, China's acquisition of foreign currency there.

“The irony is that Britain gets much less out of the political stability and economic health of Hongkong than China. But reason and self-interest have been swept away by Maoist madness in China often enough in recent months to raise the danger of similar recklessness in Hongkong.”

The Washington Daily News said Peking was putting pressure on the British over Hongkong and to divert attention from the cultural revolution.

It concluded that the Communists would not press the British too far because of the $800m to $1,000m a year in foreign exchange earned in trade through Hongkong.

- Pragmatism -

The Evening Star of Washington echoed similar views and said: “Unless pragmatism has lost all meaning in Peking, unless the riches of Hongkong are to be tossed to the winds to win the plaudits of the mindless young Red Guards, we can be reasonable sure that the Crown Colony will keep on existing.”

The Financial Times of London said the days of Hongkong’s comfortable non-political commercialism were numbered.

An article in yesterday's edition said China's protest to Britain had brought the whole future of Hongkong into questions.

The demands that all those arrested should be released and that those responsible for the ‘sanguinary atrocities’ be punished would appear to admit of no compromise.

“That is, unless Britain was prepared to accept humiliating limitations on her role in Hongkong as Portugal has in Macao.”

The article went on: “The major uncertainty lies in the doubts over China’s determination to ‘carry the struggle on to the end’ as she claimed she would in the protest.

“Despite the extremist tone of the language it is possible that China has been forced unwillingly to support the Hongkong ‘compatriots’.""

The Financial Times said it was thought possible that if Hongkong denied rest and re-creation facilities to American troops from Vietnam and banned U.S. Seventh Fleet ships from the harbour, China's demands might be quietly dropped. But it was also considered most unlikely that Britain and Hongkong would agree to do this.

- Trouble Spot -

Manila newspapers voiced fears that Hongkong might become another trouble spot in Asia.

The Manila Times said the present trouble introduced a new element, fraught with danger for the Colony.

It said the Chinese warning underscored the fact admitted by everyone that Hongkong was under the sufferance of China.

The paper said the British might not be disturbed in their tenure in Hongkong but they could expect increasing trouble from now on as the Peking Government continued to inspire Red Guard activities in the Colony.

The Philippines Herald said the situation might not really bring about the takeover of Hongkong by the Chinese. “Yet one dreads to imagine how such a frightening turn of events would affect the security of the Philippines,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Philippines Foreign Office today advised Filipinos planning to travel to Hongkong to postpone their trips.

In Washington, it was reported that American and British authorities were discussing Chinese pressures on Hongkong where thousands of U.S. troops regularly go from Vietnam for rest and recreation.

A State Department spokesman was asked whether Britain had asked the U.S. to curtail naval visits to the Colony or otherwise reduce U.S. use of the area.

“Under present circumstances in Hongkong,” said Mr Robert McCloskey, the Press Officer, “we would not wish to comment on developments.”

Privately, officials said that U.S. and British authorities would naturally be in contact on the whole situation in Hongkong.

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 8)

New Kaifong Body Formed To Study Disturbances

A seven-member special committee was formed yesterday by members of the Hongkong Kaifong Research Council to discuss several suggestions which might be sent to Government to help solve the Kowloon disturbances.

One of the suggestions made at a meeting at the Oceania Restaurant was that people who were arrested during the disturbances be dealt with leniently and be allowed to return to their work.

Other suggestions were that a special organisation, be formed to mediate in the present and future labour and management disputes; the victims of the disturbances be investigated and given relief; and kaifong associations be allowed to mediate in any future labour and management trouble.

- Opinions -

About 20 Kaifong leaders gave their opinions on the disturbances.

All of them maintained that the recent labour and management disputes developed into the present troubles in Kowloon.

They also appealed to the people to stay calm and ignore all rumours. They urged all parents and teachers to advise children and pupils to keep away from the streets where they could be involved, in troubles.

Most of them were of the opinion that the police had done a good job in handling the disturbances. They hoped that the public would co-operate with the Government as much as possible.

At the end of the meeting, a man who claimed to be a reporter of the Wen Wei Pao, a leftwing newspaper, put questions to Mr Li Wan-yuen, Chairman of the Council. Mr Li refused to answer most of them.

The man wore a badge of Mr Mao and was equipped with a tape recorder.

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 8)

Workers Fail To Appear: Warrants Issued

Warrants were issued for the arrest of 20 workers of the Hongkong Artificial Flower Works who failed to appear in South Kowloon Court yesterday to face trial.

The workers, except Cheung Kan-leung, were charged with unlawful assembly. Cheung was charged with disorderly conduct.

When the case was adjourned on Tuesday afternoon, all the workers were told by Mr D. A. Davis, the magistrate, to be in court at 9 am yesterday. They were further reminded by a clerk when they were signing their bonds.

The other 19 workers were: Pang Fai (33), Tang Hung (27), Leung Mi-fat (24), Tsang Kin (27), Lai Hong-lam (25), Chow Chung-shing (40), Wong Yip-to (25), Wong Kang-ling (25),. Siu Kim-fai (31), Law Chung-wan (30), Lam Luk (25), Chung Yuk-fong (25), Ku Yuk-kan (40), Mak Ming (19), Yau For-wai (38), Lee Sing (25), Auyeung Chun-kuen (40), Fung Kam-shing (20), and Ng Ping-ming (25)

Wong Kang-ling and Siu Kim-fai were additionally charged with intimidating Mr Hung Piu, a foreman at the factory, and with assaulting him. They all denied the charges.

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 6)

APPEAL TO H.K. CATHOLICS
‘Dissociate From Demonstrations’

All Catholics in Hongkong have been urged to dissociate themselves from any disorderly and illegal demonstrations and instead to do all in their power to bring about peace and security.

A statement issued from the Office of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Hongkong said the present unlawful methods being used by some groups in the name of the workers were to be deplored.

It said: “Those who use such unlawful methods of protest can only injure the good name of all workers and harm their true interests.

“Disruption of the economy can only bring further insecurity and hardship to wage-earners.

“Therefore the Catholics of Hongkong are exhorted and indeed all others who have the true interests of Hongkong workers at heart to disassociate themselves from any disorderly and illegal demonstrations. They should do all in their power to bring about peace and security.”

- Social Condition -

The statement said it was only when peace and security returned to the Colony that those who have the true good of the workers at heart would be able by legal and just means to renew their efforts to bring about improvements in the social conditions of the workers.

The Council of the Hongkong Teachers’ Association and the Hongkong Private Anglo-Chinese Schools Association Limited deplored the disturbances.

The council declared that for the sake of peace and stability, such disturbances as those at Sanpokong should not happen again.

It appealed to all school pupils and teachers to take a calm look at the whole situation and to refrain from taking part in any activity that might lead to a disturbance.

The Private Anglo-Chinese Schools Association expressed its concern and advised school children to co-operate in observing law and order and not to listen to rumours. (The association has 70 member schools with an enrolment of about 100,000 pupils).

Dr Ng, Sau-yee, Secretary-General of the Hongkong and Kowloon Private Schools’ Association asked students and those working in the education field to be on the alert and not to be used by bad elements.

He said it was regretted that the Ming Tak Middle School in Taipo Road was attacked and the Buddhist Po Ching School in Ting Hau village was burnt down.

These schools were not involved in any labour disputes, he said.

- Remain Calm -

He appealed to Hongkong’s youths to remain calm and concentrate on studying. “The actions taken by the leftist elements are by no means patriotic actions but violence and disturbance,” he added.

The Hongkong Council of Social Services which represents more than 80 voluntary organisations, expressed deep concern over the events of the past week and their possible effect on the true welfare of the people of Hongkong.

It said in a statement: “The voluntary welfare organisations, along with Government welfare services, have been working strenuously for years both to meet the needs of people and to help them build a better life in this community.

“The staff members of these many organisations are well aware of the problems that exist and also know the efforts that individuals and families are making.

“We very much fear that these efforts will be destroyed if peaceful methods of development and of solving problems and difficulties cannot be maintained.

“We realise that improvements in wage levels and working conditions are needed, but are convinced that these can only come through orderly means of negotiation. Because of Hongkong’s industrial dependence on the rest of the world, improvements in the conditions depend on a stable and developing economy. Disruption in this will cause additional suffering to hundreds of thousands of people.

- Police Restraint -

The disruption and suffering caused during the past week could have been much greater but for the efforts of the police, which showed such great restraint in bringing the situation under control.

“There are many things which need to be done to improve the lives of the people in Hongkong, and the voluntary organisations are convinced that the people of Hongkong will succeed if allowed to do so without disruption and violence.”

The Heung. Yee Kuk appealed to residents to approach the present difficulties with calmness.

Mr Pang Fu-wah, Chairman of the Kuk said: “The recent disturbances arising from the labour disputes appear to me to have resulted in a general feeling of uneasiness and tension amongst our community. The present situation is not unlike the events following the 1964 bank crisis and the Kowloon riots last year.

- Livelihood Affected -

“I believe these disturbances have radically affected the livelihood and well-being of our fellow citizens. I have no doubt, however, that we all look forward to a stable and orderly way of life and I believe that the majority of Hongkong people are glad to see that the scope of these disturbances has not been extended.

“Hongkong has suffered from many natural disasters and political complications over the past few years. In the interests of the future prosperity of Hongkong I wish to appeal to my fellow citizens and residents of the New Territories to ensure that Hongkong will not sustain further loss through having its peace and stability shaken.

“I further appeal to fellow citizens to approach our present difficulties with calmness. I believe my fellow citizens in the New Territories all share my views.”

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 6)

More Civic Groups Support Government

More and more civic and social organisations are coming forward in support of Government’s action for the maintenance of law and order in Kowloon.

All have supported Government’s actions and attitude in dealing with the disturbances in a fair and impartial manner.

Yesterday afternoon a joint statement by five cotton and clothing manufacturers’ associations said that the prosperity and development of Hongkong “have been built up as a result of stability and hard work of our law-abiding citizens.”

The five associations said they believed that labour-management disputes should be solved by negotiations with the assistance of the Labour Department, if necessary.

Violence, they said, would not solve any disputes.

Six east Kowloon kaifong associations today distributed more than 20,000 copies of an open letter to residents requesting them to co-operate and keep calm.

They asked parents and teachers to prevent their children and pupils from wandering in the streets and called on everybody to maintain peace and order.

The same open letter was also distributed through students to their parents.

The six organisations are Sanpokong, Wongtaisin, Tai Hom, Yuen Ling, Chiwanshan and Ngautaukok Kaifong Associations.

Leaders of the six associations will meet today at 9 am at the Alhambra Restaurant to discuss response to the letter.

They will issue a statement after the meeting.

Copies of the letter have also been distributed to kaifongs in the Tung Tau, Lofungam and Wangtauhom areas.

Three other civic organisations will meet tomorrow. The Chee Tak General Association will meet at 16 Bonham Strand East at 2.30 pm; the Hongkong East, Hongkong West and Kowloon Women’s Welfare Clubs will hold a meeting at 60 Bridge Street at 3.30 pm and the Kaifong Women’s Section will meet at 93 Marble Road at 4.00 pm.

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 8)

UNRULY CROWD STOPS HEARING OF CASE

Photographer Later Freed

A magistrate in North Kowloon Court yesterday had to adjourn the hearing of a case against a photographer charged with unlawful assembly, when more 60 people, including many women, protested to the magistrate that the handling of the case was unlawful.

Mr. F.de F. Stratton, the magistrate, asked the photographer, Tseung Shi (38), of 15 Block A, seventh floor, Playground Field Road, Shamshuipo, who is alleged to have taken part in an unlawful assembly on May 11 in Tai Yau Street, Sanpokong, if he had consulted counsel. Tseung replied that he could not get in touch with his counsel.

When Mr Stratton asked Tseung if he had any witnesses, a man in the group replied: “We are all his witnesses,” followed by the others, who shouted the same.

The crowd then shouted slogans and read quotations from Chairman Mao's red books. Mr. Stratton immediately adjourned the case, and left the courtroom.

- No Violence -

There were six lorries of policemen present. There was no violence from the group, which stayed in the courtroom and recited quotations and sang songs.

At 2 pm, one of the group’s representative (sic), went to the general office and asked a clerk why the hearing had not opened. The clerk replied that the case had been transferred to South Kowloon Court.

The representative then returned to the courtroom and the group left in an orderly fashion in single file, singing all the way out of the court building.

Later, in South Kowloon Court, Mr C. H. Koh heard the case against Tseung and acquitted him after giving him the benefit of the doubt.

***

SCMP, 18 May 1967 (Page 8)

‘RIOTS DAMAGING GOOD IMAGE OF H.K.’

The Trade Development Council said yesterday that great damage had already been done to Hongkong’s image overseas as a free, stable and strife-free Colony.

It said in a statement: “It is only through the maintenance of stability and peace that commerce and trade may continue and both workers and employers prosper.

“Great damage has already been done to our image overseas as a free, stable and strife-free Colony. We must unite now and all work together to regain that reputation to signify our solidarity, and to show that we are capable of settling disputes through orderly discussions and negotiations.”

- Support -

It said the Council welcomed Government’s impartial actions and attitude, which had dealt with disturbances with fairness and restraint.

It pledged unqualified support for the lawful Government and urged everyone to respect official announcements and not to heed rumours and unauthorised misleading statements.

Mr C. K. Choi, President of the Chinese Manufacturers’ Association, echoing the same views of the Trade Development Council at a Lions’ Club luncheon meeting, said the people of Hongkong and industry were fully interdependent.

He said: “I sincerely hope that both management and the labourers will realise the importance of their inter-dependence and try to seek a settlement in a spirit of co-operation for the sake of Hongkong industry.”

The further development of Hongkong industry could not be achieved by the people in industry alone; it could only be achieved with the support of the Government, with the co-operation of all people in the society, he said.

Mr Choi suggested that an apprentice training project should be started in the near future and the age limit for work in industry be lowered, so that children who had completed primary education but unable to obtain secondary education, could be prevented from wandering in the streets and instead be given jobs in industry.

***

Britain sends a stiff protest

The Straits Times, 18 May 1967, Page 1

https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19670518-1.2.3?

LONDON, Wed. — Britain strongly protested last night over Communist China’s failure to protect British property and diplomatic personnel in Peking and Shanghai.

In unusually stiff terms, Britain also demanded immediate guarantees from the Peking Government that it will ensure the safety and well being of all British subjects.

The Foreign Office action came after a mob of Chinese demonstrators broke into and wrecked the home of a British Envoy, Mr. Peter Hewitt, in Shanghai.

- Wilson ‘strangled’-

In Peking, straw effigies of Prime Minister Wilson were “strangled” and burned outside the offices of Britain's Charge d’Affaires, Mr. Donald Hopson, while crowds of Red Guards and others waved banners and chanted anti-British slogans.

Britain's protest was given to China's acting Charge d’Affaires Shen Ping, who had been summoned to the Foreign Office.

---

Riots spread to 'Golden Mile'
Mob of 3,000 sets two banks on fire, battle 1,000 police

The Straits Times, 18 May 1967, Page 1

HONG KONG, Wednesday - RIOTING touched the fringes of Hong Kong's glittering "Golden Mile" of plush hotels and tourist shops today.

A mob estimated at 3,000 smashed vehicles, street and traffic signs and caused considerable damage to other property in a Red Guard-type rampage along a two-mile stretch of Nathan Road.

In a running battle with over 1,000 riot police they set fire to a branch of the Bank of America, a branch of the Bank of East Asia, a large Chinese restaurant, stoned a major tourist hotel, the Fortuna.

- Banks attacked -

A number of other bank branches, including the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, the Chartered Bank and the Overseas Chinese Bank of Singapore, were stoned by the mob.

Nathan Road runs for several miles through the main business district of Kowloon. At its lower end is located the main tourist shopping area, known as Hong Kong's “Golden Mile”.

Today's rioting was still some distance from this area and the curfew did not affect It.

The rioting began early today outside the South Kowloon Magistracy.

Waving red books containing the quotations of Mao, a crowd of leftists gathered in front of the court to try to disrupt a hearing against 20 arrested during last week's demonstrations in the San Po Kong area of Kowloon.

- 20 jump bail -

But all 20, whose hearing began yesterday, jumped bail and failed to show up today. Warrants were issued immediately for their arrest.

The group stoned the court and the crowd around the building grew. When it reached about 2,000 and when the stoning of the court building intensified, riot police were called in.

At least eight companies of riot police and three companies of auxiliary police — well over 1,000 men — were called out to quell the riots.

Police fired tear gas and wooden anti-riot shells. Occasionally, they charged some of the mobs, smashing some of the rioters with truncheons.

In one baton charge, several of the rioters were smashed across the head and face.

One youth who tried to resist instead of fleeing with some of his colleagues was struck in the mouth. His teeth went flying. He fell to the ground, bleeding.

A police squad charged into the 14-storey building fronting on Nathan Road from which a particularly large number of bottles, tins and other objects. were being thrown.

They grabbed one youth, whom police said had thrown at least 200 bottles over a period of less than an hour.

The youth, neatly dressed and wearing dark glasses, was dragged from the building and put under arrest. He began weeping and pleading with police to let him go. Mobile loudspeaker units and policemen carrying portable loudspeakers repeatedly urged the crowd to disperse.

Some of the worst rioting was near the Astor Theatre, where Communist Chinese films often are shown.

Playing today was a film of Red China's National Day celebrations of last Oct 1, entitled "Chairman Mao, Red Sun in our Hearts."

- A call for end to strife in HK -

- Citizens’ move -

Displayed on the front of the theatre was a huge billboard with a picture of Mao.

As night approached the rioting was still a mile and a half from the big tourist hotels and police said they thought they could keep it from reaching the area.

Today's rioting erupted amid continued leftist calls for violent resistance to British authority and pleas for calm and order by many non-Communist elements.

A group of Chinese community leaders met late in the afternoon. Speakers deplored the violence, and called for all citizens to help preserve law and order. Communist newsmen attended the meeting, recording their speeches and carefully taking down the names of all those attending.

This appeared to be part of the campaign of intimidation aimed at Chinese supporting the Hong Kong authorities. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council issued a statement declaring its full support for Government efforts to maintain law and order. “It is only through the maintenance of stability and peace that commerce and trade may continue and both workers and employers prosper,” it said.

-‘Unite now’-

“Great damage has already been done to our image overseas as a free, stable and strife-free Colony.

“We must unite now and all work together to regain that reputation to signify our solidarity and to show that we are capable of settling disputes through orderly discussions and negotiations.” Earlier, a leftist delegation was barred from seeing the Governor, Sir David Trench, at Government House.

The delegation, wearing Mao Tse-tung badges and carrying Mao's red book of quotations was stopped at the entrance to Government House by the Governor's Aide-de-Camp, who told them to submit their protest to him.

They refused and demanded that they be allowed to see the Governor. When told this was impossible they chanted Mao’s thoughts and left with a warning. A spokesman told the Aide-de-Camp: “Tell Trench we will be back tomorrow, Tell him to walt for us and see us.” The delegation drove up in four cars, They ignored a special parking area and drove right up to the massive iron door of the Governor's residence. — Agencies.

***

200 Red Guards turn on Reuters' man

The Straits Times, 18 May 1967, Page 20

DEMONSTRATION OUTSIDE NEWSMAN'S HOUSE

PEKING, Wednesday - ABOUT two hundred chanting Red Guards mounted an angry demonstration outside the house of Reuter’s correspondent in Peking today.

Shouting anti-British slogans, they blocked the narrow street outside the house and trapped a Canadian correspondent in his car for half an hour.

When Reuters correspondent Anthony Grey went up to the flat roof of the house to look down on the scene below some Red guards threw pebbles at him.

David Oancia, of the Toronto Globe and Mail, was prevented from driving away after visiting Reuter’s office in a street close to the walls of the old Forbidden City.

The chanting mob pressed around the Canadian's blue Volkswagen shaking their fists and rocking the car from side to side. Oancia sat inside smoking.

- Huge mob -

The massive demonstration against Britain over the action of British authorities in Hong Kong continued today outside the office of the Charge d’Affaires in the Eastern suburbs of Peking. Official Press reports said today 400,000 took part yesterday. Erection of temporary toilets in the area indicated that the demonstrations were intended to go on for some days.

The three-storey Reuter house and office is in a quiet, tree-lined street off a broad avenue running to the Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tienanmen Square).

Like other buildings nearby it has high walls — and a distinctive wooden double gate, painted mandarin red.

The roof gives a fine view of the moat round the Forbidden City and the golden-yellow roofs of the ancient palaces.

- How it began -

* Grey described today's events like this:

“As I write this report in my office yelling Red Guards waving their fists in the air are keeping up a constant chant outside of “Down with British Imperialism.”

The demonstration began when Oancia and myself were taking photographs of slogans plastered over the doors and walls of my house.

The slogans said: “British imperialists get out of Hong Kong” and “Crush Wilson’s dogs head.” The crowd gathered around us and after a few minutes a Red Guard leader wearing a scarlet arm band arrived on the scene and began leading the crowd in an anti-British chant.

The crowd grew rapidly and when Oancia entered his car they quickly closed round him.

When I tried to take photographs of the car, fists were pushed in front of my camera.

- Abuse -

I went inside the house and on to the roof to take photographs of the scene below.

The crowd screamed abuse with new intensity and some picked up stones and pebbles and threw them up at me, until I dodged down behind the parapet.

Oancia was eventually allowed to drive away after half an hour, when the crowd thinned.”

Demonstrators first plastered slogans on Reuters wall yesterday evening. More were added during the night.

Today’s demonstration began about 10.20 Peking Time and some demonstrators were still outside an hour later as long columns of marchers filed by with portraits of Mao, waving red booklets of Mao’s quotations and shouting slogans.

The five Chinese domestic and office staff members of the Peking Reuters office returned to work today after walking out yesterday to take part in demonstrations. - Reuter

***

SCMP, 19 May 1967 (Page 1)

TENSION EASES IN KOWLOON
Rule Of Law Foundation Of Colony’s Society

GOVERNOR’S STATEMENT

Britain’s support of the Hongkong Government’s actions in dealing with the riots of the past week was warmly welcomed yesterday by the Governor, Sir David Trench, who stressed that the rule of law was the foundation of the Colony’s society.

Coinciding with the statement of wholehearted support from London (see Page 7), the situation in Kowloon trouble spots quietened down considerably yesterday and a curfew was not imposed last night.

The emphasis of leftwing demonstrations appeared to shift to Government House where at least 600 people gathered yesterday to present petitions and chant Communist slogans and plaster the building with posters - including some in English.

Observers noted that the same faces appeared in more than one of the leftwing delegations even though these purported to represent separate groups.

Government continued to get strong local backing with 98 organisations, representing more than 900,000 people from all walks of life, making statements of support so far.

In his statement, the Governor said he greatly welcomed the clear re-statement of the facts and the British Government's views.

“I shall certainly, of course, continue to ensure good order to the best of my ability as the statement requires of me, and continue to do all I can to help Hongkong return to its normal peaceful way,” he said.

“In the past few days we have heard from many people and many organisations, all expressing support for the Government and a desire to see peace and good order here.”

Clearly Sir David said, this was the wish of the vast majority of the people.

“This response has been most heartening, but it is quite essential that we do not flag in our determination to continue to express our real feelings so that all here and in the world at large, may know how Hongkong really feels about present events.”

- Foundation -

The rule of law, designed to protect and benefit all as equally as possible, was the foundation of the Colony’s society, and the shield behind which the community could live at peace and be free from arbitrary pressures or turbulent assaults.

“Our community is not perfect - no community is - but behind this shield we can at least strive to improve it,” Sir David said.

“This is the Government’s proper interest, and if you will all continue to show by any peaceful means open to you that it is peace and progress, not unrest, that you want. I am sure we shall soon be able to surmount the difficulties we now face.”

(Continued on Back Page, Col. 4)

Calm Returns To Kowloon

(Continued from Page 1)

During the day, Mr D. C. Batty, the Commissioner for Resettlement, toured a number of resettlement estates in northeast Kowloon where trouble has occurred over the past few days, and reported that everything was “perfectly normal.”

There had been some damage to estate offices, he said, but repairs were under way.

He added that he had found that the majority of people in the estates wanted to lead a peaceful life.

Mr E. C. Eates, the Acting Commissioner of Police, also made a tour of Kowloon and reported afterwards that the situation was quite normal.

The morale of the Police Force had remained high during the days of trouble, he said, and added that his men appreciated the public's support for their work in maintaining peace and order.

The 98 organisations which have so far issued statements supporting Government’s actions have voiced a common theme in their appeals to the people: “Co-operate with the authorities to maintain peace.”

The organisations include business groups and 32 Kaifong as well as educational, social welfare and women’s bodies and medical, religious and clansmen associations.

Unofficial members of Executive and Legislative Councils have joined Urban Councillors in renewed support of Government’s firm action.

In addition, prominent citizens have also made statements as individuals.

At Government House, more than ten separate groups totalling at least 600 people, both men and women, assembled in front of the building during the day to present petitions of protest and chant the quotations of Mr Mao Tse-tung.

The main gate was once more chained, with a gap of one foot, when the first party of 150 leftists arrived on the scene before 11am and began plastering the building with posters. Some posters in English also appeared later.

They were followed by a 17-member delegation from the “Hongkong and Kowloon Committee for Anti-Hongkong British Persecution Struggle” - who came in four late-model saloon cars.

- ‘Front’ -

The 17 members of the committee are not regarded in authoritative quarters as the leaders of the present agitation, but as a “front” for them.

They demanded to see the Governor in person to lodge their petition. But a police officer told them they would be received only by the aide-de-camp.

However, the group insisted on seeing the Governor and this insistence led to a further outburst of singing and shouting which continued till 12.30 pm.

After about 90 minutes the group left, but not before the chief delegate read out a protest Note in which it was claimed that the committee represented the Colony's entire 4m people.

“The delegate also said that the Governor would have to shoulder “all the serious consequences” for not receiving him and his colleagues in person.

Just before their arrival, police blocked off Albert Road on either side of Government House and other demonstrators were not allowed to approach until after the group had left. Traffic was diverted during this time.

There were no demonstrators present during the lunch hour, but groups numbering from ten to more than 100 showed up at various times in the afternoon, chanting and shouting.

Occasionally, the ADC came out to meet them but each time the groups demanded to see the Governor, which demands were immediately followed by lusty recitations of Mr Mao's works.

- Chant Slogans -

Shortly after 4.45 pm when most demonstrators had left the vicinity, seven buses on routes which pass by Government House stopped outside the gates.

Some of the drivers and conductors got out and chanted Communist slogans for about ten minutes - although several of their colleagues appeared to disagree with their action.

Passengers remained inside the buses during the demonstration and posters which had been put up on the vehicles when they stopped were taken down before they resumed their runs.

Just after 5 pm a group of 30 to 40 boys gathered outside Government flats near Queen’s Gardens and chanted leftist slogans.

In Kowloon, life in bustling Yaumati and Mongkok returned almost entirely to normal apart from a few groups of people which formed in some areas but soon dispersed.

Two groups gathered in the street opposite the South Kowloon Court where persons arrested during Wednesday’s violence were having their cases heard. Police prevented the groups from getting larger.

A gathering of up to 150 people which formed about 2.30 pm in the Pak Hoi Street area, facing Nathan Road, was cleared without incident by a police party led by Mr C. P. Sutcliffe, Assistant Commissioner of Police.

The police blocked off Pal Hoi Street, Kansu Street and Gascoigne Road but left about half an hour later when the gathering did not reform.

Typical of the few isolated incidents was that involving a young boy who stepped out into the street, with a stone clenched in his hand, and stopped a bus. He then ran off.

About 5.10 pm, a European wearing a Mao badge attracted a crowd of about 50 young people in the park at the junction of Nathan and Gascoigne roads.

The European was talking, with the crowd and giving them his sympathy. Soon the crowd tried to persuade him into shouting “Long live Mao Tse-tung.”

Although the atmosphere appeared friendly, some policemen nearby kept watch. When the European left, the crowd cheered him.

- Orderly -

Isolated incidents occurred during the early evening. A group of about 80 people stoned a police contingent at the corner of Nathan and Gascoigne Roads but the situation there was reported to be quiet later.

A large crowd gathered outside the Alhambra Building in Nathan Road but it was described as orderly.

Two Chinese detectives were chased by a crowd in Yaumati but the crowd halted when one of the officers drew his revolver.

The North and South Kowloon courts were busy during the day dealing with cases arising from the week’s riots. A total of 70 people received prison terms ranging from three months to two years for unlawful assembly, breach of curfew or rioting.

In answer to a question, a Government spokesman said yesterday that no-one had been detained - as opposed to arrested - in connection with the current disturbances.

Meanwhile, 130 workers registered to resume work in the Hongkong Artificial Flower Works’ main plant on Hongkong Island - where the labour trouble which helped sparked the disturbances started.

The price of commercial gold went up by about seven points to close at $272.50 a tatel yesterday, compared with Wednesday's prices.

There were again no transactions at the Hongkong Stock Exchange.

(See also Pages 6 and 7)

***

SCMP, 19 May 1967 (Page 6)

MORE VOICE SUPPORT FOR GOVERNMENT

Bernacchi Praises Police For Remarkable Restraint

Mr Brook Bernacchi, QC, Senior Elected Member of the Urban Council, yesterday made a strong appeal to the citizens of Hongkong to support Government and the forces of law and order.

Only by facing up to realities and assisting the Hongkong Government can peace and order be restored to Hongkong, he said.

“I have been the first to criticise the Hongkong police when I consider it deserves criticism, but in their handling of the present situation they have shown remarkable restraint and I urge you to support the forces of law and order to support the Hongkong Government in this time of trouble.

“Already there are indications that even the organisers of the rioting and demonstrations cannot control the criminal elements that always take advantage of this type of situation.” Mr Bernacchi said.

He recalled that there had recently been some talk of “running dogs.”

- Running Dogs -

“I say that the only running dogs at present are those that run with their tails behind their legs in fear of the organisers of these riots and demonstrations,” he said.

Mr Bernacchi said many people had appealed to the people to restore law and order and he made the same appeal too. “But a few things need to be said that have not been said. Can anyone really believe that the cause of the present rioting is now the labour dispute of two weeks ago?

“In the whole of this city of Hongkong’s history, the policy of the Government of Hongkong is friendship with whatever Government is for the time being ruling the great Chinese people.

“When the Ching Dynasty were in power, the Hongkong Government kept peace with them, but, provided a refuge for people like Dr Sun Yat-sen.

“When the Nationalist Government was in power, the Hongkong Government kept peace with them but provide a refuge for the Communist refugees.

“Now that the Communist Government is in power, the Hongkong Government has gone out of its way to keep peace with the People's Republic of China and some of you are refugees from Communism.

“But never has the Hongkong Government permitted Hong Kong to be used as a place for sabotage against the Government in China. This is as it should be although far from a Communist myself, I acknowledge that the People’s Republic has done much for China and has brought it into the atomic age.

- ‘Keep Out’ -

“But if you want Hongkong to remain, then the time has come to face reality and say to the great People’s Republic: ‘You are interfering in our affairs, please keep out!'”

Meanwhile, civic bodies, trade organisations, religious groups and individuals deplored the recent Kowloon disturbances and voiced their support for Government in its efforts to maintain law and order.

They pointed out that industrial disputes must be settled by negotiations and violence would not help solve any problems.

They also appealed to all citizens to co-operate fully with Government.

The Civic Association, in a resolution after a special general meeting, reaffirmed its faith in the future of Hongkong and its people, preservation of law and order, continued political stability, rapid social progress and economic prosperity for all.

It urged all residents of Hongkong to support every effort to preserve peace and order.

The Association said it also supported the right of industrial workers, skilled and unskilled workers, white-collar and other employees, to seek better wages and working conditions, and urged that fair and just solution be found by non-violent means and negotiations round the conference table.

- Harm -

The Unofficial Members of the Hongkong Productivity Council deplored riots and hooliganism and appealed to everyone to refrain from actions which might make the maintenance of law and order and the restoration of normal conditions more difficult.

While peaceful strikes were legitimate, they said, riots external interference and hooliganism were not and they would only result in harm.

“Harm is done to the workers who are faced with loss of employment and rising costs of food and other essentials; harm is done to industry which loses production and has to meet increased costs, thereby suffering a possible loss of markets; harm is done to the image of Hongkong overseas.”

The Hongkong Exporters’ Association, in affirming its support of Government, emphasised the excellent work of the police and refuted all allegations of brutality by the force.

“The membership of this Association, which covers all nationalities and of which the largest group is Chinese, wishes to state that there has been no prejudice by Government in the present situation against any section of the community.

“We wish to protest against the efforts of minority groups to impose their will on the community at this or any other time.”

 The Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce deplored the “senseless action of a few troublemakers who are for their own ends trying to disrupt the life of the entire community.” It also expressed indebtedness to the police for their “sensible and humane performance of their difficult task.”

- Senseless Destruction -

The Indian Chamber of Commerce said that damage to property would not solve any problems and no useful purpose would be achieved by senseless destruction or creating disturbances.

The Chamber fully appreciated Government efforts in maintaining peace and order and it was indeed remarkable that the police had carried out their duties creditably, the Chamber said.

The Hongkong Chinese Medical Association praised Government for the restrained manner with which the disturbances were being dealt.

“The use of violence by any section of the community is to the disadvantage of every individual citizen.

“The striking advances in health which have been made over the years in Hongkong have been possible only because of conditions of peaceful co-operation among our people,” the Association said.

The Hongkong Water Importers’ Association and the Hongkong Dental Society also voiced their support for Government.

More than 30 representatives of the Hongkong Buddhist Association called at the Colonial Secretariat to present a petition asking the Governor to make “all possible efforts to maintain the law.”

- Buddhist Appeal -

The petition,which was handed to Mr G. C. Hamilton, the Deputy Colonial Secretary, referred to the disturbances and said it was grieved to see the livelihood and well-being of the people threatened in such way.

“If immediate steps are not taken to put a stop to the commotion, it is likely that there will be a complete breakdown in Hongkong’s economy and the fate of the ordinary citizen will then be very miserable indeed.

“In view of this, we, on behalf of the 500,000 Buddhists in Hongkong, hereby petition Your Excellency most earnestly and urgently to make all possible efforts to maintain the law so that social security may be ensured and peace and order restored to the local community.

Mr Cheung Yan-lung, a past Chairman of the Heung Yee Kuk, urged all citizens to assist Government by remaining calm and by instructing their young relatives to obey the law and not to follow the voice of seditious ring leaders.”

Mr Henry Wong, a barrister and a Reform Club candidate for the Urban Council election, noted that a large number of people involved in the disturbances were young people.

The youth problem, he added, presented a serious threat to the future well-being of the Colony.

He suggested that a committee on youths be set up to discuss ways and means of tackling the youth problem. He also called for an extensive survey of young persons.

***

SCMP, 19 May 1967 (Page 6)

Proposal For Mediation By Independent Body

The Hongkong Christian Council yesterday suggested that an independent person or persons, not connected with the workers, the management or Government, should arbitrate in the current labour disputes involving the Hongkong Artificial Flowers Works and the Green Island Cement Co, Ltd.

A similar proposal for a special organisation to mediate was also made by the members of the Hongkong Kaifong Research Council.

Announcing receipt of these proposals, the Hen R. M. Hetherington, the Commissioner of Labour, welcome these suggestions which he said could positively assist his continuing efforts.

In spite of continuous efforts by the Labour Department, he said, it had not yet been possible to establish common agreement on arrangements for discussing unresolved problems arising from the disputes.

Conciliation officers had made repeated attempts to communicate with two unions concerned in the disputes by telephone calls and by personal visits to union premises. On all occasions, however, the offers of the services of the Labour Department had been rejected or ignored.

Nevertheless, Mr Hetherington reiterated the offer of these services which were available at all times.

If these services continued to be unacceptable, he said, he would urge all those wishing to solve the present disputes to indicate their willingness to take advantage of the proposals made for an independent person or persons to mediate.

***

SCMP, May 19 1967 (Page 7)

London Gives Full Backing To Stand Taken By Govt

London, May 18.

The British Government yesterday expressed its full support to the Hongkong Government for its stand during the recent riots in the Colony.

In a statement which came as a reply to the Chinese declaration issued after the incidents, the British Government said it “fully supports the Hongkong Government in fulfilling its duty both in maintaining law and order and in the efforts it is making to bring about a settlement of the industrial dispute.”

The Government said the Hongkong police had shown “great restraint in carrying out their responsibilities and have used the minimum force.”

The. British Government's statement said:

“Her Majesty's Government consider it necessary to state the full facts about the disturbances in Hongkong."

“The recent disturbances in Kowloon arose from an industrial dispute in April between workers and their employers about wages and conditions of employment.

“A settlement could not be reached in negotiations between employers and workers.

“The Labour Department of the Hongkong Government offered its services in an effort to help the parties to reach agreement, but this offer was refused by both sides.

“Disturbances broke out on May 6. The police clearly informed those involved of the laws governing peaceful picketing, warned them repeatedly of the consequences of disorder and urged them to desist.

“These warnings went unheeded, and the police were therefore obliged to act to keep the peace.

“Subsequent efforts by the Labour Department to bring the parties together to discuss their difficulties and try to reach an agreed settlement were frustrated by the outbreak of further disorders.

“Again after repeated warnings the police were obliged to take action to keep the peace.

“All cases of arrest are being treated in the normal way in accordance with the due process of the law.

- Impartial Help -

“Throughout the disturbances the Hongkong police, a number of whom were injured in the three days of rioting, have shown great restraint in carrying out their responsibilities and have used the minimum force.

“In labour matters the Hongkong Government’s policy is to make available the specialist services of its Labour Department to give impartial help to management and trade unions to settle any dispute that may arise between them.

“It has already done so on this occasion and remains ready to do all it can to facilitate a settlement.

“The Hongkong Government has an inescapable duty to maintain law and order as impartially and fairly as possible for the benefit of all in Hongkong.

“Her Majesty's Government fully supports the Hongkong Government in fulfilling its duty both in maintaining law and order and in the efforts it is making to bring about a settlement of the industrial dispute.” - AFP and Reuter.

***

SCMP, 19 May 1967 (Page 6)

HKU Students Deplore Riots

Many students of the University of Hongkong deplored the Kowloon riots and praised the authorities for their action in the disturbances.

A cross-section of their opinion was published in a special issue of the Students Union’s Undergrad, and an editorial in the student's publication stressed that Hongkong wanted stability.

“We give our full sympathy to the labour movement - as long as it is reasonable and conducted within the boundaries of the law. However the moment such a movement is coloured with political overtones, its nature ceases to be a merely social and economic one and becomes an excuse for violent action and disorder. We, therefore, strongly object to rioting as a solution to a labour problem.”

 The Students' Union Council also condemned the riots.

“Certain papers, it said, seem to suggest that Government in maintaining law and order is actually carrying out an anti-Chinese movement, so as to create the present national misunderstanding. Such newspapers, we feel, can only represent the standing of a certain party, but not the general opinion of the people of Hongkong” the Council said.

***

SCMP, 19 May 1967 (Page 9)

‘SANGUINARY ATROCITIES?’

“Sanguinary atrocities”? The picture above is believed to be the sole basis for this phrase in the Peking statement about the Hongkong riots. It shows a man after his arrest in Sanpokong last Thursday. He demanded to be photographed. Yesterday the same man (right) was to start serving a three-month sentence for unlawful assembly.

***

SCMP, 19 May 1967 (Page 10)

BRITAIN BACKS HONGKONG

ALL was calm yesterday except for the demonstrations at Government House. These were chiefly notable for the fact that various individuals seemed to appear and reappear in more than one delegation. This is not to say that all will remain quiet. It is a feature of planned agitation that when one ploy fails (even the plastic flower workers are going back to work) there has to be a pause while strategy is redrafted. Meanwhile the groundswell of public opinion continued to mount in its opposition to violence. Yesterday’s tally was no fewer than 98 organisations representing 900,000 people speaking up for law and order. Meanwhile, too, a new situation was created by the statement of the UK Government in reply to that of Peking. Again it has to be noted that this was just a statement, not a Note. It was simply issued (like Peking’s) not “handed” to anybody. Its terms were moderate. It was a rebuttal, not to specific charges but to the whole charge. It came out unequivocally in support of the Hongkong Government and its handling of the situation. It dispelled any illusions that Westminster might accept a “Macao solution.”

In the breathing space thus afforded a brief review of the situation may be in order. The first phase of “Operation Disruption” has failed. The police, unaided by the military and with exemplary forbearance now being recognised in an unprecedented way by members of the public, did all that was required. There are some indications that the division in China between the supporters of Mr Mao and Mr Liu is being reflected here, with the latter - and moderation - in the ascendant, but this of course can only be speculation. There is clear evidence that many of the agitators have been paid for their work. Rumour-mongering, too, is undisguised. It may be, however, that the take-over of the affair by the mobsters was the result of a miscalculation and is viewed with displeasure, even frustration, by the “high command.” Public demand for the closing down of seditious newspapers (as has happened before) and the deportation of agitators is on the increase; but official reactions to this, so far, are on “wait and see” lines. So far so good. The one thing certain is that if what is wanted is a “victory by humiliation” it will not be gained here - or in Shanghai.

***

Peking accuses Britain of ‘serious crimes’

The Straits Times, 19 May 1967, Page 1

HONG KONG. Thurs. - A Chinese leader today accused the British authorities of trying to “put out the flame of the anti-persecution struggle” in Hong Kong and said the authorities there would be held responsible for the consequences arising therefrom.

The statement was made by Hsieh Fu Chin, chairman of the Peking municipal revolutionary committee, speaking at a mass rally in the Chinese capital.

According to a live Radio Peking broadcast received here, Premier Chou En-lai headed a party of Chinese leaders at the rally, held to protest against British actions in Hong Kong.

- ‘Admit your errors’ -

Mr. Hsieh condemned the British authorities for refusing to accept the five “just demands” put forward by the Chinese Government following the recent Kowloon disturbances. Instead, he said, they had carried out a “large-scale suppression” of the Chinese compatriots in Hong Kong.

Mr. Hsieh said the British Government and the Hong Kong authorities had “miscalculated and misjudged their opponents.” “We warn the British Government and the Hong Kong authorities: You have committed serious crimes against Chinese compatriots in Hong Kong.

“You must immediately stop all the Fascist atrocities and acknowledge your errors.” he said.

Mr. Hsieh praised the Hong Kong compatriots for having launched a “powerful counterattack” on the British authorities.

- ‘Our support’ -

“Their struggle is a just one and we give them our support,” he said.

In an apparent reference to the Kowloon disturbances, he charged that many people were beaten up by the police.

Mr. Hsieh alleged there was exploitation and suppression of workers in Hong Kong, and added where there was exploitation and oppression, there was resistance. — Reuter.

***

Reuters’ Peking office is No. 2 target, by Anthony Grey

The Straits Times, 19 May 1967, Page 1

PEKING, Thurs. - The house and office of Reuter's correspondent here has become a secondary target of the demonstrators.

When I opened the gate of the small courtyard of the house today I was confronted with a pair of straw legs and feet dangling before my face.

They belonged to an 8ft.-tall straw figure hanged from the porch bearing a notice saying: “I am Wilson” in English.

It wore a top hat and a note on its back in Chinese said; “Hang Wilson.”

- ‘Paper tiger’ -

The hanging figure was added to a 4ft. long straw effigy of a “paper tiger” put up last night by the demonstrators.

Sheets of newspaper covering the tiger's flanks denounced British imperialism, United States imperialism and Soviet revisionism as all “paper tigers.”

I was able to enter and leave the house without obstruction during the morning. —Reuter.

***

Uneasy calm after riots in morning

The Straits Times, 19 May 1967, Page 1

HONG KONG, Thursday - An uneasy calm settled on this troubled Colony tonight after another morning of sporadic rioting.

Riot police again battled roaming crowds of Chinese youths who ranged through the industrial and commercial district of Kowloon, smashing street signs, stoning banks and starting fires.

By early evening the curfew earlier imposed on south-west Kowloon had been extended to cover almost the entire peninsula jutting into the sea north of Victoria Island. Forty-six were arrested and lice and two civilians injured.

- Rebuttal -

Earlier, rioters operating outside the curfew area set up barricades in the streets. forcing the police to use tear gas to disperse one rowdy mob.

The British Government statement (see Page 2) support for the Hong Kong Authorities in the maintenance of law and order — widely interpreted here as a direct rebuttal of Peking’s tough five-point protest on Monday — was welcomed by the Governor, Sir David Trench. In a statement today, the Governor said:

“I greatly welcome e this clear re-statement of the facts and of the British Government's views.”

- Support -

I shall certainly, of course, continue to ensure good order to the best of my ability, as the statement requires of me, and continue to do all I can to help Hong Kong return to its normal peaceful ways.

In the past few days we have heard from many people and many organisations, all expressing support for the Government and a desire to see peace and good order here. Clearly this is the wish the vast majority of our people.

- Total of 56 are jailed in HK for rioting -

This response has been most heartening, but it is quite essential that we do not flag in our determination to continue to express our real feelings so that all, here and in the world at large, may know how Hong Kong really feels about present events.

The rule of law, designed to protect and benefit all as equally as possible, is the foundation of our society here, and the shield behind which the community can live at peace — from arbitrary pressures or turbulent assault.

Our community is not perfect: No community is —but behind this shield we can at least strive to improve it.

- Pause now? -

This is the Government’s proper interest, and if you will all continue to show by any peaceful means open to you that it is peace and progress, not unrest, that you want, I am sure we shall soon be able to surmount the difficulties we now face.”

Observers believe there is now likely to be a political pause for two or three days while Peking considers the British statement.

It is also understood that despite yesterday's riots In Kowloon, officials here feel that left-wing agitation may have lost some ground over the past 48 hours.

On Hong Kong island, special radio speakers mounted outside communist banks to relay a direct broadcast of today's big anti-British demonstrations in Peking attracted only the odd passer-by,

In the uneasy calm that prevailed today gold prices and US dollar note rates rose steeply after two days of almost blank trading on the stock exchange.

Gold prices rose by 9.25 HK dollars per tael to close at HK$275.75 and the U.S. dollar was pegged at HK$5.84, up 8.5 cents.

- Buying -

Financial sources, however, said this upsurge was due more to speculative buying rather than against the possibilities of inflation.

Meanwhile, left-wing demonstrators kept up a day-long demonstration outside Government House, waving the red book of Chairman Mao's thoughts, chanting communist slogans and plastering the front entrance with anti-British posters. The crowd, which numbered between 200 and 300, was generally orderly and dispersed quietly of its own accord shortly after five o'clock this evening.

- Rioters jailed -

The posters were removed by Government staff shortly afterwards. Over in Kowloon, the courts were sentencing those arrested for breaking last night's curfew.

Fifty-six people were found guilty of rioting, breach of curfew and unlawful assembly and were given jail sentences ranging from four months to two years.

No incidents were reported at the south Kowloon court, scene of yesterday’s bloody clashes between riot policemen and youths on a Red Guard-style rampage.

Policemen in steel helmets ringed the courthouse today to prevent disturbances.—Agencies.

***

SCMP, 20 May 1967 (Page 1)

MORE CONDEMN DISTURBANCES
Thousands Demonstrate At Government House
CROWD BLOCKS COURT

As demonstrations by leftists continued outside the gates of Government House in Upper Albert Road throughout yesterday, more organisations have come forward to condemn the disturbances and pledge support for the authorities.

Fifty-one organisations issued statements yesterday, bringing to nearly 150 the number of organisations which have so far urged residents to co-operate with Government in maintaining law and order in the Colony.

Farmers, villagers, social workers, educationists, medical practitioners and ordinary working people are represented in these organisations.

A group of residents, representing about 400, 000 residents and landlords of multi-storey buildings, met Mr C. P. Sutcliffe, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, in the afternoon and handed him a letter supporting police efforts in the current disturbances.

- Police Fund -

At the same time, the police fund started by a Swiss businessman gained overwhelming support from business firms and people from all walks of life.

The fund, which has been launched as a token of support for the police, will enable police children to go for higher education.

More than 3,000 people gathered outside Government House for the third successive day to demand a meeting with the Governor, Sir David Trench.

The demonstrators, mostly workers and students, arrived in relays, each with a group leader, and chanted quotations from Mr Mao Tse-tung’s thoughts.

The first group arrived at Government House shortly after 10 am and the last group left at 5 pm.

- Posters -

Each group stayed in front of the main gates for about 15 minutes and posted anti-British posters on the walls of the guard house as well as the gates.

Among yesterday's demonstrators were film actors and actresses of two left-wing studios and some bus drivers and conductors.

The demonstration followed a pattern. As each group arrived and departed, songs and quotations were chanted. On leaving Government House, each group paraded through the streets of Central District but gained no response from on-lookers.

The triangle patch of road outsides the Bank of China appeared to be the marshalling point for group after group of marchers to Government House.

At the height of the demonstrations in the afternoon, the crowd swelled to 2,500 while another 600 stood in the slip road east of Government House.

All traffic was diverted from Upper Albert Road during the demonstrations.

A small force of policemen was on hand to control the crowds but there were no incidents.

Shortly after 6 pm after the crowds had disappeared, ten workmen began tearing down the posters. The job took an hour.

Yesterday, many buses on various routes on the Island were seen to carry anti-British posters.

- Trial Of Juvenile -

At North Kowloon Court, a crowd of about 200 people banged on the doors of, the Juvenile Court at about 11.15 am after being refused admittance to hear the case of a 13-year-old boy charged in connection with the Kowloon disturbances.

After several unsuccessful attempts, the group formed a line blocking the entrance to the court and started shouting slogans.

A police officer then explained to the crowd that only the defendant and his parents were allowed inside the court.

Support For Government

Half-an-hour later, the boy and his mother came out of the Juvenile Court. The crowd clapped their hands and cheered.

After the boy had signed a surety of $200m in the Court's Office, the crowd marched off in the direction to Taipo Road, still shouting their slogans.

No incidents were reported in South Kowloon Magistracy although a police squad stood by on the alert.

- Petition -

At the Green Island Cement Co, Ltd, former workers continued to sit outside the company’s Hunghom plant yesterday but the number was comparatively smaller than on previous days.

Menawhile, another meeting took place in the Labour Department yesterday morning between the management of the Hongkong Artificial Flower Works and the 100 workers who had presented a petition to the department last Tuesday.

It was agreed to hold a further meeting in the near future.

The Director of Education yesterday reminded School Certificate candidates and invigilators for Grantham Training College, Diocesan Girls’ School, Methodist College and Newman College, that they should all report to King George V School at Mission Road to take the papers scheduled for today.

The School Certificate examination in all other centres will be held as scheduled. All other schools which normally have Saturday morning classes will be open as usual today

The price of gold on the local market rose by another $12.50 yesterday, closing at $285 per tael compared with $272.50 on Thursday.

For the fourth successive day no transactions took place at the Hongkong Stock Exchange yesterday.

(See also Pages 6, 7 and 8)

***

SCMP, 20 May 1967 (Page 6)

KOWLOON RESIDENTS GIVE SUPPORT TO AUTHORITIES
More Organisations Back Govt

Another 51 organisations have come forward to pledge support for the authorities in the maintenance of peace and order.

This brings to 149 the total number of organisations which have issued statements urging co-operation with Government.

Farmers, villagers, social workers, educationists, medical practitioners and the ordinary working men are all represented on these organisations.

Among these was a group of Kowloon residents representing about 400,000 tenants and owners of multi-storey buildings in various parts of Kowloon, who called on Mr C. P. Sutcliffe, the Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, to express their support of police efforts to maintain law and order.

In a letter, handed to Mr Sutcliffe, Mr Wong So, leader of the delegation, said that residents of multi-storey buildings were very much disturbed by the unfortunate disturbances in Kowloon.

The letter, from the multi-storey building tenants and landlords, added: “We are very satisfied with the manner in which the Hongkong Police have handled the situation so that the position will not get worse. We would also like to pay our cordial respects to those members of the force who have been injured on duty.

“We citizen hope that Government will maintain law and order so that we can lead a peaceful life. We also hope that citizens will co-operate with Government so that peace and prosperity can be resumed.”

Mr Sutcliffe thanked the delegation for their moral support.

- Continue -

The British Government as well as the Hongkong Government have both stated their policies and on behalf of the police I can add that we would continue to maintain law and order to the best of our ability in any way possible to bring back to Hongkong a prosperous and peaceful life.”

Among others who endorsed Government actions in the resent disturbances were the Hongkong Management Association, the Society for the Aid and Rehabilitation of Drug Addicts, the Federation of Vegetable Marketing Co-operative Societies, the Federation of Pig Raising Co-operative Societies of Hongkong, Kowloon and the New Territories, the Lions Clubs and the Shatin Rural Committee.

The Unofficial Justices of the Peace stand firmly behind Government in its actions to maintain law and order, the Hon J. Dickson Leach said yesterday.

Speaking on behalf of the Unofficial JPs, Mr Dickson Leach said:

“An early return to normal conditions is essential to the well-being of Hongkong and we call upon the population at large to support Government in its effort in this direction.

“We are pleased to see the offers being made by both independent bodies and Government departments to mediate in the present disputes between labour and management.

- Spirit Of Resolve -

“We would urge the parties concerned to meet together in a spirit of resolve to settle the issues concerned as soon as possible.”

Among the clansmen who supported Government yesterday were the Gee Tuck (Ng, Chow, Choi, Yung and Tsao) General Clans Association and the Siulamese Association.

The Gee Tuck is an association with a membership of 4,000 and there are nearly 100,000 people in these five clans living in Hongkong.

There are 60,000 Siulamese people in Hongkong. They have come from Siu Lam, a district in Chung Shan, 60, miles northwest of Hongkong on the Pearl River Delta.

The Gee Tuck Association said while it was Government's responsibility to safegard (sic) social order and protect citizens’ life and properties, it was also the duty of the citizens to co-operate with and trust in Government policy.

“As we are all in the same boat, we should keep calm and tide over our difficulties peacefully.”

The Siulamese regretted the disturbances. They asked the citizens to advise their children to pay more attention to their studies and not to involve themselves in any illegal activities.

The Kowloon Residents’ Association condemned the recent disturbances.

“Such disturbances,” said Mr F. C. Clemo, the KRA President, “destroy the public image of Hongkong abroad and unless stopped immediately will inevitably bring about widespread unemployment and ruin to Hongkong.”

The Association commended the firm stand taken by Government and praised the police for acting with great restraint in very trying and difficult circumstances.

- Only By Law -

The Hongkong Social Workers’ Association, an organisation with 400 members, also appealed to the people to restore the rule of law.

“We are aware that there is room for improvement in the social conditions in Hongkong. We are convinced that it is only within the framework of the law, however, that it is possible to improve these conditions and view the present violent methods of a small minority as injurious to the welfare of those whom they are trying to help.”

The Hongkong Branch of the British Medical Association said that the health of the community as well as of every individual was endangered by the present disturbances, “and the Branch reiterates its support for the measures which Government has adopted and for the creditable and restrained way in which they have been applied.”

Mr Ng Lam-wai, Chairman of the Hongkong Fishing Industry and Commercial General Association, yesterday suggested the formation of Kaifong Safety Service units to help Government maintain law and order.

He said the Colony’s fishing population of 100,000 were fully behind Government in dealing with the disturbances.

He also reproached a small number “of Communist elements” of organising the “anti-persecution struggle committee” under the name of “various circles in the Colony.”

The Women’s Sections of the various Kaifong Associations in Hongkong yesterday urged teachers and parents to pay more attention to the moral training of young people.

At a meeting in Wanchai, the representatives noted that many of the people taking part in the disturbances were young people.

***

Whitehall gives HK Govt its backing

The Straits Times, 19 May 1967, Page 2

LONDON, Thurs. — The British Government today said it fully supported the action of Hong Kong Government was taking to maintain law and order in the colony.

It also supported its efforts to bring about a settlement to the industrial dispute which had started the riots.

The Government emphasised that the original cause of the disturbances Was a comparatively small industrial conflict which could be settled quickly if management and unions would “discuss it in reason and goodwill.”

The Government statement came two hours after Britain had protested to China about demonstrations against British diplomatic offices in Peking and Shanghai. — Reuter.

***

Red Press warns of more rioting

The Straits Times, 19 May 1967, Page 2

HONG KONG, Thursday - Communist newspapers today applauded yesterday's rioting and warned British authorities that they faced more of the same unless they submitted to Communist demands.

Police said a total of 131 people were arrested during the day-long rioting over a wide area of Kowloon.

At least 36 policemen were injured by the intense stoning of Chinese rioters.

Four rioters were reported injured, but the number probably was higher despite the extreme restraint exercised by police in trying to control the rioting along Nathan Road.

“What will Hong Kong’s situation develop into,” one of the leading Communist dailies asked today on its front page.

“What are the Hong Kong British authorities going to do about it? What end will they choose? This is a big question for the Hong Kong British authorities today.”

- The answer -

The Wen Wei Pao, which takes its editorial cue from Peking, said the answer was simple:

“The British must knuckle under to demands presented by leftists here and reiterated by Peking or face even more violence in this colony of more than four million.

“Our Foreign Ministry statement has pointed out that should the British government and the Hong Kong British authorities continue to act boldly despite warnings then all grave consequences arising therefrom will be the sole responsibility of the British Government and the Hong Kong British authorities.

 “The facts demonstrate crystal clear that the Hong Kong situation as it is now can only be solved by the ways and means laid down in our Foreign Ministry statement.

“The only way out for the Hong Kong British authorities is to act according to our Ministry statement.”

The new warning by the local leftists was backed by a series of supporting statements from Red Chinese organisations across the border, including the huge All China Federation of Labour Unions.

A statement of support by the labour federation and a number of other organisations in in China a prominently on the leftist papers today.

- Pictures -

The papers also carried full page spreads of pictures showing Red Guards, soldiers, militiamen, farmers and others during a large demonstration yesterday at the Chinese border town of Shumchun.

The Wen Wei Pao and other Communist papers noted that a “joint struggle committee” had been formed by leftist organisations in Hong Kong.

The paper complained that Governor, Sir David Trench, had failed to receive them when they went to Government House to present a protest.

An aide to the Governor had been stationed at the gate to Government House on Hong Kong to receive protests and petitions, but the Governor had not received any delegation since the trouble developed a week ago.

- ‘Hostile act’ -

The Wen Wei Pao editorial said the Governor's refusal to receive a 17-Member delegation of the joint struggle committee was a hostile act and a deliberate provocation. 

“We can see the top authority or the Hong Kong British has no sincerity in solving the problems. Why? Because he intends to continue bloody oppression, escalate the incidents with conspiracies.

“Yesterday, the Hong Kong British authorities continued unreasonable trials of our compatriots in the South Kowloon Court and dispatched large numbers of so-called riot police to carry out new fascist atrocities. This further proves their conspiracies and plans of further bloody oppression.”

- Leaders hit -

The Communist papers denounced statements issued by non-Communist groups and leaders of the community calling for order.

“The Hong Kong British authorities have manoeuvred a handful of so-called social leaders, business leaders and gentlemen to agitate peace for the Hong Kong community, to protect and obey the law and the like, “ the Wen Wei Pao said.

“Very clearly, the Hong Kong British authorities are creating public opinion for bloody oppression.” - UPI.

***

Poster war at gates of Govt House

The Straits Times, 19 May 1967, Page 2

HONG KONG, Thurs. — Eight hundred pro-Communist Chinese marched on Government House here today began plastering posters on its walls and gates after the Governor, Sir David Trench, did not appear to accept protests against alleged Persecution of Chinese.

Gates to the Government House, which houses both Sir David’s executive offices and living quarters, were chained and padlocked against the crowd.

Police and a handful of military sentries stood guard at the gate and inside the walled and fenced courtyard. 

Police tried to dissuade those pasting up posters but there were no clashes between them and the demonstrators, who sang Communist Chinese songs and chanted quotations from Chairman Mao.

In the afternoon, they dispersed.— AP.

***

Hate chant goes on outside British Mission

The Straits Times, 19 May 1967, Page 2

PEKING, Thurs. — Waves of chanting Chinese marchers demonstrated outside the British Mission here again yesterday protesting against the handling of riots in Hong Kong.

As hundreds of thousand of marchers moved past the mission, the Chinese Foreign Minister, Marshal Chen Yi, pointedly avoided the British Charge d’Affaires at a Norwegian Embassy reception.

After making a formal toast, Chen Yi clinked glasses with diplomats and journalists at the reception, held to mark Norway's national day, But he abruptly changed. direction when he saw the British diplomat, Mr, Donald Hopson, in his path.

British sources said Mr. Hopson made a strong verbal protest at the reception to Deputy Foreign Minister Lo Kuei-po about the ransacking of a British diplomat's house in Shanghai on Tuesday.

- Note drama -

A written British protest about the Shanghai incident was delivered to the Foreign Ministry here on Tuesday night by the First Secretary of the British office, Mr. Anthony Blishen.

When Mr. Blishen placed the note on the table of a ministry official, the official picked it up and threw it through the door onto the ground outside, British sources said.

Mr. Blishen retrieved the note, replaced it on the table and left.

The demonstrators from all parts of Peking, who flowed unceasingly past the British Charge d’Affaires’ office earlier, hung straw figures of British Prime Minister Wilson on nearby gates, while loudspeakers kept up a stream of attacks on Britain.

Mr. Hopson and his wife, returning from the Norwegian reception, had to leave their car some way from their residence and make their way through dense crowds of marchers,

Although the demonstrators screamed slogans in the faces of the Hopsons and the office guard. they were allowed through — Reuter.

***

SCMP, 20 May 1967 (Page 7)

Governor Not Besieged

London, May 19

Sir David Trench, the Governor of Hongkong, reported to the Commonwealth Office yesterday he had not been besieged by Chinese mobs at Government House as stated in press reports yesterday.

Officials here said the Governor had reported that although several delegations, shouting and singing, had stuck posters on the gates of the Government House after he had refused to see them, “there had been no incidents of violence.” He anticipated an early return to normality.

Reports from Hongkong published in London evening newspapers said 800 chanting Chinese had besieged Government House in an ugly demonstration yelling “Hang Trench.”

The Commonwealth Office had been in telephone contact with the Governor and with the Hongkong Government Information Services Department.

The Information Services Department had expressed astonishment at press reports that the Governor had been under siege and had described the demonstration as “quiet and orderly,” the officials said. - Reuter.

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SCMP, 20 May 1967 (Page 9)

RADIO & TV COMMENTARY
Three Cheers For The ‘Riot’ Announcers

BY PETER GYNT

THREE hearty cheers for the chaps who stayed up all night broadcasting bulletins and music while we Kowloonites slumbered uneasily in our beds. It is no romantic fancy to say that our local duty announcers have become 20th century watchmen, heirs to a medieval age.

One could wish that they would return to archaic usage such as: "Two o'clock in Nathan Road and all’s well," or Three o’clock in Boundary Street, and there’s a lovely punch-up going on outside the post office.” Seriously, these chaps did a fine job, and those of us living within the curfew area appreciate their efforts, accompanied by the fervent wish that they won't have many more sleepless nights.

I thought RTV were more on the ball this time. The close-ups of the custodians of universal brotherhood smashing windows and overturning cars were very clear. So were the scenes filmed outside Government House.

RADIO Hongkong dropped a clanger this week when repeated a radio newsreel thereby scaring quite a number who had tuned in late, and were unaware that they were listening to a duplicated account of the previous day's disturbances. Information gathered from all over the world proves that a repeat broadcast of news concerning previous disturbances or disasters, always catches some listeners on the wrong foot. Remember that Orson Welles created a panic in the USA just before World War II when he broadcast a realistic version of H. G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” Thousands of listeners thought they were hearing an eye-witness account of an invasion by Martians, and accepting fiction for fact, caused quite a flap.

Further, concerning radio bulletins, Wednesday's nonsense in Nathan Road occurred just about noon. No public announcement was made until the fracas was mentioned 90 minutes later at the tail end of Radio Hongkong’s news. Meanwhile, thousands of schoolchildren were passing to and fro through the trouble area with hundreds of parents in pursuit of their children who had already left home for school. An interruption in the regular radio programmes telling children not to proceed to school, or for the schools to prevent children leaving for home, would have made life more pleasant for all concerned.

THINGS have improved on Rediffusion Television. The return of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook will be welcomed by RTV’s more sophisticated viewers. The wit of Cook and Moore is hard to define, but it appears to me to originate in the Welfare State in which the average citizen with extra years at better schools, acquires a larger vocabulary and wider interests. Thus we get a sketch based upon two Cockneys discussing the occult, yet retaining the Cockney peculiarity of slipping a sanguinary adjective between two nouns. This to me, is excruciatingly funny.

I notice that the trilogy of plays, “Women in Distress” which have appeared in RTV’s Wednesday Night Theatre, have emphasised the point made by RTV, London, that the British viewing public requires more “meat” in its drama. Thus each play was concerned with some aspect of life in modern Britain. The first play dealt with the tension which occurs in domestic scenes when a young wife is a better executive than her husband and his feeling of inferiority becomes a chip on the shoulder.

The second play dealt with the problem of retarded children and parental reluctance to accept the fact that a retarded child is no reflection upon the parents, but is probably due to some accident attending the child's birth. The third play was addressed to the problem of age, and of how modern society is still inclined to accept the old tribal tradition, by metaphorically knocking “old and useless members of the community” over the head. Good viewing.

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SCMP, 20 May 1967 (Page 10)

Extracts From The Chinese Press
WAR OF WORDS OVER THE DISTURBANCES

ALL the Colony’s non-leftist Chinese newspaper's came out in strong condemnation of the disturbances in Kowloon, voiced full support for Government in maintaining law and order and hailed the British Government's endorsement of the Governor's handling of the situation.

Continuing their war of words with the left-wing newspapers, they questioned the composition, of the “anti-persecution struggle committee” formed last week by leftists and asked if they truly represented the people of Hongkong.

The leftwing newspapers, on the other hand, continued their sharp attack on Government and the police.

On Friday, they carried on the back and inside pages reports of the disturbances which broke out outside the South Kowloon Magistracy the previous day.

The front pages of these newspapers were devoted to reports of Red Guard demonstrations against Britain in Canton and similar reports from China.

The Sing Tao Jih Pao said law-abiding citizens would never cower before riots, violence and arson.

- Offenders -

The New Life Evening Post asked the rioters why they should offend the citizens who had not offended them at all.

During the disturbances, some had shouted. "We will not offend others if others do not offend us, but we will offend others if others offend us” (a Mao quotation).

“We want to ask, you," said New Life to the rioters, “why do you offend those citizens who had not offended you at all? Did those merchant shops, those private cars offend you? Then why did you smash those shops and burn those vehicles?”

The two leading left-wing papers and their followers continue to pose threat to and exert pressure on Government.

The Wen Wei Pao described the banning of the delegates of the 'struggle committee” from Government House as an act of “premeditated provocation” and accused Government of not having the slightest sincerity to solve the problem.

It also called the Governor's assurance of an impartial attitude as “deceptive.”

The Ta Kung Pao described the formation of the 100-strong “struggle committee” as a “big event and a demonstration of wholehearted unity of patriotic compatriots.”

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SCMP, 21 May 1967 (Page 3)

DEMONSTRATIONS IN CENTRAL

Demands to see the Governor

Thousands of leftists staged noisy demonstrations throughout yesterday to press home their demands to see the Governor. They massed outside Government House and later paraded through the streets.

The marchers sang songs, recited quotations from the red book of Mr Mao Tse-tung’s thoughts as they paraded through the Central District.

However, they met with no response from on-lookers although they drew applause from workers employed in leftist stores and bookshops.

These pictures, taken by Post Herald Staff Photographers, capture some of the scenes outside Government House and in Central District yesterday.

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SCMP, 21 May 1967 (Page 1)

Auxiliaries indignant

DISBANDING REPORT ‘A LYING SMEAR’

Hongkong’s Auxillary Police yesterday indignantly rejected as a “lying smear” a report in the Sung Ng Po (New Noon Paper), and repeated in the New Evening Post, that the force wished to disband.

“These people must be desperate, if they have to invent stories like this,” a spokesman said. “This time, they have picked the wrong target for their lies.”

“Anyone with eyes to see can see all volunteer police in the streets, standing shoulder to shoulder with their regular comrades.

“Perhaps it is the very fact that the Auxiliaries had a 99.5 per cent turn out which makes these people afraid. It shows where the loyalties of decent law-abiding people are.”

Commenting on the slander, Col J. D. Clague, Commandant of the Hongkong Auxiliary Police Force, said: “Absolutely untrue, I have not heard anything of the sort. No complaints. No representation.”

Mr Ramon Young, Chief Superintendent, Kowloon and Tsun Wan (Auxiliary): “I have not received one single application for resignation. I have been in constant contact with the men. Their morale could not be better.”

Mr Young's view was shared by Mr Karlum Shum, Senior Superintendent, Hongkong Island (Auxiliary).

Mr Young and Shum extended their thanks to the employers of their men, who accepted the inconvenience resulting from the men’s absence from work.

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SCMP, 21 May 1967

Ban placed on disorderly gatherings
GOVERNMENT CALLS HALT TO ROWDINESS

A Government statement, issued at 10.10 last night, warned that further disorderly gatherings such as took place near the Supreme Court yesterday evening, will not be permitted.

The statement added that people would still be able to exercise their right to petition the Governor in small, orderly groups, or by post.

“But disorderly processions or unlawful gatherings will not be allowed,” the statement said.

It noted that during the past few days. Government had permitted group protests at the gates of Government House to proceed without interference.

Until yesterday, the demonstrations associated with these protests had been noisy, but not violent.

Yesterday, the demonstrations lost their orderly and disciplined nature.

- Urged on -

“Groups of demonstrators returning from Government House mobbed round Statue Square and the Law Courts and resorted to violence and rowdiness by molesting spectators and by attempting to block the tramlines with rubbish.

“These activities have been urged on by loudspeaker exhortations to further violence and disorder.

“It has therefore been decided that in the interests of the public, disorderly gatherings of this nature will not in future be permitted,” the statement said.

Demonstrations on Hongkong Island, hitherto confined to the vicinity of Government House, yesterday spread to the city and eastern districts, but ended late at night without any major incident.

- Noisy shouting -

Several Chinese newspapers were visited by columns of marchers who painted slogans outside their premises but caused no other damage.

Noisy demonstrations took place yesterday afternoon near the Bank of China which has been the headquarters for demonstrators marching to Government House.

Following a six hour demonstration by a crowd estimated at 3,500 outside Government House the marchers returned to the vicinity of the bank where they interrupted the week-end calm of the Central District by noisy shouting.

However, visits by police parties to the scene prevented serious trouble.

Meanwhile, the situation in Kowloon remained quiet, with life going on normally.

The first march of the morning began from the demonstrators’ main marshalling ground, the environs of the Bank of China, Des Voeux Road Central.

Their first group formed up in the Statue Square Gardens in front of the Supreme Court. Some were students, some workers, and all waited on a small group of men who appeared to be organising their part in the march.

The group met others marching from Des Voeux and Queen’s Roads, held a small “pep rally” there, then marched off singing jubilantly up Garden Road.

A group of 20 youths gathered outside the American Consulate in Garden Road, chanting and singing.

The police exercised restraint in keeping law and order among more than 3,500 demonstrators in front of Government House, although more than once some of the bystanders and demonstrators appeared to be provoking.

Some minor incidents created excitement among some of the demonstrators shortly after noon. About 12.35 pm, when a BBC television team tried to film the demonstrators, they appeared to be irritated and some tried to stop the filming. However, rapid action taken by the police stopped any unpleasant incident.

According to Mr James Mossman, the reporter from the BBC, the reason for their reaction might be that the cameraman, Mr E. Christie, had been too close to them. Mr Mossman said they arrived from London two days ago for this special assignment and the films were expected to be screened on television tomorrow.

- Traffic blocked -

The first group of demonstrators arrived at the gate at 10 am and following this group were more than 1,000 others, mostly pupils, who, arrived in separate groups.

Between 2 pm and 3.40 pm, traffic at the junction of Garden Road and Upper Albert Road was completely blocked.

That section of the road was cordoned off by more than (?) police officers.

Demonstrations

From 2 pm, more and more demonstrators came up Garden Road and more police had to be called to the area, and at one stage the demonstrators were lined up along Upper Albert Road and Kennedy Road.

At 3 pm, about 20 demonstrators managed to break through the police cordon, resulting in a police constable suffering minor injuries. He was taken into Government House through a side entrance.

Five minutes later, another demonstrator alleged that he had been kicked by a policeman when the group rushed to the main gate of Government House.

Throughout the day, only the first party of 18 demonstrators lodged a protest with the Governor’s Aide-de-camp.

The last party of demonstrators left the area about 4 pm.

Posters airing their “protest” were plastered on the pillars and walls of Government House and some characters were also painted on the road in front of the guard room.

Red paint was also daubed inside the sentry box at the entrance to Government House.

At 3 pm groups of about 100 marched through the Central District shouting and singing Mr Mao's thoughts.

- More posters -

They stopped in front of the Queen’s Road entrance to the Central Government Offices and plastered it with posters denouncing the British Government for “oppression” and “brutality.” Another group marched up Ice House Street and stuck posters of a similar nature on the entrance to the Labour Department at Baskerville House.

A crowd of about 200 to 300 people demonstrated outside the Supreme Court. Posters were pasted on the pillars and at the main entrance of the court.

A police platoon later patrolled the Queen’s Road area outside the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

Three Radio Hongkong commentators were out in the Central area with their tape recorders describing the scene. Producer Ted Thomas, standing beneath the giant stone lions of the Bank of China, was explaining into his microphone how good humoured and smiling the crowds around him were.

The next moment a mob of 20 youths started screaming menaces at him. “They shouted at me to get away and told me they would destroy my tape recorder,” said Mr Thomas. Before I could do anything someone snatched at the tape recorder and smashed the microphone. I just turned and walked calmly away.”

Two other commentators, Kit Masters and Michael Kaye, were together by the Supreme Court. They watched a European Journalist, being chased by a group of youths, run to the safety of the Hongkong Hilton.

“While he was running toward the Hilton he was being kicked and punched,” said Mr Masters. “Just outside the Hilton a plainclothes policeman pulled out a gum to stop the chasing crowd and allow the European to get to safety.”

A crowd of 500 then turned their attention to the Hongkong Hilton Itself. Anxious faces of tourists watched from the safety of the building as the crowd chanted slogans and waved their Mao books.

A roar of approval rose from the demonstrators as a Hilton bell boy hauled down first the British, then the Hilton’s own colours and finally the American flag.

The crowd snaked across the Statue Square Gardens toward the Mandarin Hotel. But with doors closed and no visible flags flying they passed by and down Connaught Road, making in the direction of the Vehicular Ferry Pier.

The crowd stopped outside the Central reception centre of the Wah Kiu Yat Pao, demanding that pictures of the recent disturbances be removed from the show-window. Several youths, apparently the leaders, restrained the crowd and told them not to touch private property.

They dispersed when the pictures were hastily removed.

Shouting and chanting slogans and quotes from Mao's thoughts along Connaught Road Central, the crowd turned east and demonstrated outside the premises of the Hongkong Times in Gloucester Road, and defaced the premises with slogans in red paint.

The crowd then moved to the premises of the Kung Sheung Daily News in Fenwick Street, and similarly defaced the premise and a car belonging to the newspaper.

The former premises of the Sing Tao Yat Pao and the Wanchai branch of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation met with the same fate when the crowd walked further down Wanchai.

- Slogans on court -

They also defaced a traffic pagoda at the junction of Johnston Road and Wanchai Road.

The mob reached the Causeway Bay Magistracy building about 8.45 pm and painted Chinese characters on the Court wall. Windows were not damaged. Taxis and private cars were not allowed to pass through Sun Lau Street, opposite the Court. Only buses had free passage.

Riot police were called out about 9.20 pm when the crowd milled outside the Bayview Police Station and defaced the station with red paint amid applause from onlookers. Stones were thrown at the police from the rooftop of nearby multi-storey tenement building.

The crowd then marched along Electric Road towards North Point, smearing on the way the Sing Pao, the Daily Express, the Government Printing Department, branches of right-wing banks, including the Bank of Bangkok, Government quarters, and the News Building (Sing Tao papers and the Hongkong Standard) from where they turned back towards North Point at 11.30 pm.

The characters, painted in red and black, denounced “British imperialists” and demanded the release of all people arrested recently in the disturbances.

Most of the shops closed in the Wanchai and Causeway Bay districts. Hawkers pushed their carts away from the mobs. After 9.30 pm the two areas were very quiet.

Late last evening, a crowd was reported to have assembled at the junction of Hennessy Road and Percival Street, but it dispersed some time later.

Throughout yesterday, a Government helicopter hovered over various trouble spots on the Island.

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SCMP, 21 May 1967 (Page 2)

MORE ORGANISATIONS BACKING GOVERNMENT
Hawkers say their livelihood affected by Kowloon riots

More organisations representing people from all walks of life - from the small man hawking his wares in the streets to the business executives and professional man - have added their names to those who have already come forward publicly to support the Government.

Statements of support for the authorities’ action were issued by 56 organisations yesterday, bringing to 205 the total number of organisations which have pledged support for the Government.

The Western District Licensed Hawkers’ Friendly Association, an organisation with 4,000 membership, yesterday sent a petition to the Governor supporting Government measures for maintaining peace and order in the Colony.

In the petition, the Association said that the members had experienced a considerable drop in business because of the recent Kowloon disturbances.

“We and member of our families are worried about this, as our livelihood has been affected. We therefore earnestly request Government to do its best to restore law and order in Hongkong so that we may continue to live in peace.”

The petition was handed to the Deputy Colonial Secretary, Mr G. C. Hamilton, by Mr Ko Cheuk-kwan and Mr Siu Yuet-choi, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Association.

The Kowloon Licensed Hawkers Mutual Aid Society Ltd sent a letter to the police expressing its appreciation of the police efforts to maintain law and order and sympathy for those policemen injured in the disturbances.

A joint statement by the Chiu Chow Residents’ Public Association, the Chiu Yang Residents' Association, the Wai Loi Residents’ Association and the Chung Tak Charitable Society, said the unpleasant incidents arising from recent labour-management disputes “are deeply regrettable.”

“If the present unfortunate state of affairs should continue, there would be disruption of local industry and commerce and investors overseas would hesitate to make investments in Hongkong. Consequently, the whole economic structure of Hongkong will be unimaginable.

“We earnestly hope,” therefore, that all residents in Hongkong and Kowloon will place their confidence in, and sincerely co-operate with the Government, so as to ensure Hongkong’s prosperity for the benefit of all.

“We, the Chiu Chow people, are well known for our honesty and good-naturedness. It is our fervent hope that this good tradition will be maintained. We now appeal to all Chiu Chow residents in Hongkong to keep calm, and work for the peace and good order of the local community.”

Five Chinese newspapers yesterday devoted a whole page each to the publication, in the form of an advertisement, of a list of various organisations which voiced support for Government.

These are the Wah Kin Yat Po, the Sing Tao Jih Po, the Kung Sheung Daily News, the New Life Evening Post and the Hongkong Times.

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SCMP, 21 May 1967 (Page 2)

Riot pictures on display

Photographs taken by Government photographers during the Kowloon disturbances were displayed at the Government Publications Centre at the “Star” Ferry Concourse in Edinburgh Place yesterday.

Appeals to young people to put their time to better use and not to join in such “destructive activities” were the captions to the photographs.

Above, a crowd looking at the photographs.

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SCMP, 21 May 1967 (Page 2)

Work resumes at plastic factory

A total of 193 workers of the various departments of the Hongkong Artificial Flowers Works at Western District, resumed work yesterday.

Eighty-seven persons returned to work at 7.30 am and in the afternoon another ten turned up.

In the afternoon shift which started at 6.30 pm, 96 workers returned for work.

It was earned that 216 former workers had re-registered for employment.