Outbreak of Violence
In May, a labour dispute broke out in an artificial flower factory in San Po Kong. Picketing workers clashed with management, and riot police were called in on 6 May. In violent clashes between the police and the picketing workers, 21 workers were arrested; many more were injured. Representatives from the union protested at police stations, but were themselves also arrested. The next day, large-scale demonstrations erupted on the streets of Hong Kong. Many of the pro-communist demonstrators carried Little Red Books in their left hands and shouted communist slogans including demands of "blood for blood". The Hong Kong Police Force engaged with the demonstrators and arrested another 127 people. A curfew was imposed and all police forces were called into duty.
In the PRC, newspapers praised the leftists' activities, calling the British colonial government's actions "fascist atrocities". In Beijing, thousands of people demonstrated outside the office of the British chargé d'affaires. In Hong Kong's Central District, large loudspeakers were placed on the roof of the Bank of China Building, broadcasting pro-communist rhetoric and propaganda, while students distributed newspapers carrying information about the disturbances and pro-communist rhetoric to the public.
On 16 May, the leftists formed the Hong Kong and Kowloon Committee for Anti-Hong Kong British Persecution Struggle and appointed Yeung Kwong of the Federation of Trade Unions as the chairman of the committee. The committee organised and coordinated a series of large demonstrations. Hundreds of supporters from various leftist organisations demonstrated outside Government House, chanting communist slogans and wielding placards. At the same time, many workers took strike action, with Hong Kong's transport services being particularly badly disrupted.
More violence erupted on 22 May, with another 167 people being arrested. The rioters began to adopt more sophisticated tactics, such as throwing stones at police or vehicles passing by, before retreating into leftist "strongholds" such as newspaper offices, banks or department stores once the police arrived.
Read more about this topic: Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots
Famous quotes containing the word violence:
“Much is made of the accelerating brutality of young people’s crimes, but rarely does our concern for dangerous children translate into concern for children in danger. We fail to make the connection between the use of force on children themselves, and violent antisocial behavior, or the connection between watching father batter mother and the child deducing a link between violence and masculinity.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)