The 1967 Riots

<轉載自2014年5月8日 明報 加東版 港聞版>

The 1967 Riots (六七暴動), also known as the ''anti-British movement'' or the ''leftists riots'', were a series of workers' protests that broke out in May 1967. They subsequently became large-scale riots that caused over 50 deaths in eight months. During the riots, Hong Kong was in chaos, and lives were seriously threatened by hidden bombs.

1. Background

In April 1967, an industrial dispute broke out in Hong Kong Artificial Flowers Factory in San Po Kong. Its workers went on strike. On May 4, the strike escalated (升級). The workers demanded direct negotiations with their employers. Some even put up big-character posters (大字報) and quotations from Mao Zedong (毛語錄). Those were standard practices in the Great Cultural Revolution (文化大革命) on the mainland. Yeung Kwong (楊光), who headed the Hong Kong and Kowloon Committee for Anti-Hong Kong British Persecution Struggle (港九各業工人反對港英迫害鬥爭委員會), admitted in a book published in 2013 that, in 1967, the Federation of Trade Unions (工聯會) was influenced by the thought of the Cultural Revolution.

2. Outbreak of the riots

On May 6, around 150 workers gathered outside the factory, demanding negotiations with their employers. A violent clash ensued. The police failed to mediate the conflict. Riot police took action and arrested 21 workers.

The strikes became riots on May 11. There was a confrontation between workers and the police in San Po Kong. Workers attacked using rocks and glass bottles. Riot police fired wood bullets (木製子彈) in an attempt to suppress the riots. As the situation had gone out of control, the government imposed a curfew (宵禁).

Large numbers of protesters gathered in the street. They set fire on cars and created disturbances in schools and offices. Police officers fired teargas canisters to disperse protesters. On May 15 Governor David Trench (港督戴麟趾) issued a statement calling for order and peace in Hong Kong.

The riots escalated in the second half of the year. Extreme leftists planted bombs in the street, causing panic in the territory. Many bombs were found on public transport. In one case, a seven-year-old girl and her two-year-old brother were killed by a homemade bomb (土製炸彈) packaged like a gift. Some police officers were injured or killed when they disposed of bombs.

3. End of the riots

The majority of Hong Kong citizens condemned the riots. In December, Zhou Enlai (周恩來), who was then Chinese Premier, ordered that the leftists stop planting bombs. The 1967 Riots finally ended. According to government statistics, the riots claimed at least 52 lives. Over 8,000 suspected bombs and 1,167 real bombs were found. By December 31, almost 2,000 people were convicted.

4. Media response

During the riots, Ta Kung Pao (《大公報》), a leftist newspaper, and People's Daily (《人民日報》), a mainland newspaper, published editorials supporting leftist riots.

Commercial Radio Hong Kong (CRHK) programme host and commentator Lam Bun (林彬) criticised the Committee for Anti-Hong Kong British Persecution Struggle. He named his programme ''Can't Stop Striking'' (《欲罷不能》), which satirised (諷刺) the leftist strike. On 24 August 1967, Lam Bun was killed. The next day Ta Kung Pao condemned Lam Bun, calling him ''scum'' (敗類), and praised his killers.

It was also reported that Louis Cha (查良鏞), who was then chairman of Ming Pao (《明報》), was threatened for condemning the riots. Cha remained away from Hong Kong for a year.

 

It was common to find crowds of strikers gathering on streets in 1967. Strikers were mainly workers and students.