The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale anti-government riots that occurred in Hong Kong during British colonial rule. Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations eventually escalated into protests against the colonial government. The protests were partially inspired by successful anti-colonial demonstrations in Portuguese Macau which had occurred a few months prior.
The use of roadside bombs and petrol bombs by demonstrators prompted the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) to raid the demonstrators' strongholds and arrest their leaders. Fifty-one people were killed in the subsequent violence. As many of the bombs were made in pro–Chinese Communist Party (CCP) schools, then governor David Trench decided to close those schools and ban pro-CCP publications in the colony.
The protests occurred against the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution taking place in the People's Republic of China (mainland China), with many of the protesters harbouring leftist views and sympathies toward the CCP. After the riots, the British Hong Kong government publicly reflected on its failure to address certain social grievances and carried out major social reforms.
Tensions The initial demonstrations were labour disputes that began as early as May 1967 in shipping, taxi, textile, and cement companies. The unions that took up the cause were all members of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions, a labour group with strong ties to Beijing.
The political climate was tense in Hong Kong in the spring of 1967. Across the colony's northern border was a tumultuous People's Republic of China (PRC), with Red Guards carrying out purges and engaging in infighting amidst the Cultural Revolution. To the west of Hong Kong, in the Portuguese colony of Macau, two months of violent clashes between colonial police and pro-CCP demonstrators had just ended. Order was not restored to Macau despite the intervention of the Portuguese army, and a general strike in January 1967 pressured the Portuguese government into agreeing to many of the demonstrators' demands, placing the colony under the de facto control of the PRC. Up to 31 protests were held in Hong Kong.
Outbreak of violence
On 1 May (International Workers' Day), three labour strikes began in Hong Kong, including one at the Hong Kong Artificial Flower Works, a factory producing artificial flowers in San Po Kong. Of the 679 workers in the factory, only 174 were unionised and willing to strike. 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. Representatives from the union protested at police stations but were themselves arrested.
The next day, large-scale demonstrations erupted on the streets of Hong Kong. Many pro-CCP demonstrators carried Mao Zedong's Little Red Book in their left hands and shouted communist slogans. The Hong Kong Police Force engaged with the demonstrators and arrested another 127 people. A curfew was imposed and all police personnel were called into duty.
In the PRC, newspapers praised the demonstrators' activities and condemned the colonial government's actions as "fascist atrocities". In Hong Kong, the pro-Beijing newspapers Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po similarly voiced their support for the demonstrators and opposition to the colonial government.Survey of People's Republic of China Press, Issues 4032–4051, US Consulate General, 1967, pages 23–25.
In Hong Kong's Central District, large loudspeakers broadcasting pro-CCP rhetoric and propaganda were placed on the roof of the Bank of China Building. Colonial authorities responded by blaring out Cantonese opera from larger speakers placed nearby. Posters were put up on walls with slogans like "Blood for Blood", "Stew the White-Skinned Pig", "Fry The Yellow Running Dogs", "Down With British Imperialism" and "Hang David Trench". Students distributed newspapers carrying information about the demonstrations and pro-CCP rhetoric to the public.
On 16 May, demonstrators formed the "Committee of Hong Kong and Kowloon Compatriots from All Circles for Struggle Against British Hong Kong Persecution" or "Anti-British Struggle Committee" for short.May Upheaval in Hong Kong, Committee of Hong Kong and Kowloon Compatriots from All Circles for Struggle Against British Hong Kong Persecution, p. 8 (1967). Yeung Kwong of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions was appointed its chairman. The committee organised and coordinated a series of large demonstrations. Hundreds of supporters from 17 different leftist organisations demonstrated outside Government House, chanting pro-CCP slogans.Asian Recorder, Volume 13, 1967, page 7832. At the same time, many workers went on strike, with Hong Kong's transport services being disrupted particularly badly.
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 officers or police vehicles passing by, before retreating into leftist "strongholds" such as newspaper offices, banks or department stores once the police responded. Casualties began soon after. At least eight protester deaths were recorded before 1 July; most of the victims were shot or beaten to death by the police.
Height of violence
On 8 July, several hundred demonstrators from the PRC, including members of the Militia, crossed the border at Sha Tau Kok and attacked Hong Kong police officers stationed nearby. The police attempted to disperse the crowd using tear gas and wooden bullets, prompting armed members of the crowd to open fire on the police. Five police officers were killed and eleven injured in a brief exchange of fire.Hong Kong (Border Incidents) , Hansard, HC Deb 10 July 1967 vol 750 cc93-7 The People's Daily in Beijing ran editorials supporting the demonstrators' actions in Hong Kong; rumours that the PRC was preparing to take control of the colony began to circulate. The pro-CCP protesters in Hong Kong tried in vain to organise a general strike in the colony.
Unable to progress by peaceful means, the demonstrators resorted to more extreme measures, planting bombs, as well as decoys, throughout the city. Normal life was severely disrupted and casualties began to rise. An eight-year-old girl, Wong Yee-man, and her two-year-old brother, Wong Siu-fan, were killed by a bomb wrapped like a gift placed outside their residence.Then & now: these were our children , South China Morning Post, 19 August 2012 Bomb disposal experts from the police and the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong defused as many as 8,000 home-made bombs, of which 1,100 were found to be real. Locals nicknamed these bombs "pineapples".North Point tour takes participants back to the 1967 Hong Kong riots , South China Morning Post, 6 October 2013. Most police stations across Hong Kong were fortified with sandbags as police facilities were the target of numerous attacks using bombs, homemade fragmentation explosives, and various projectiles.
The Hong Kong government imposed emergency regulations, granting the police special powers in an attempt to quell the unrest. Leftist newspapers were banned from publishing; leftist schools alleged to be bomb-making factories, such as Chung Wah Middle School, were shut down; many pro-CCP leaders were arrested and detained; and some of them were later deported to mainland China.
On 19 July, demonstrators set up barbed wire defences on the Bank of China Building.
In response, police raided leftist strongholds, including Kiu Kwan Mansion. In one of the raids, helicopters from HMS Hermes – a Royal Navy aircraft carrier – landed police on the roof of the building. Upon entering the building, the police discovered bombs and weapons, as well as a leftist "hospital" complete with dispensary and an operating theatre.
The public outcry against the violence was widely reported in the media, and the demonstrators again switched tactics. On 24 August, Lam Bun, a popular anti-communist radio commentator, was murdered by a death squad posing as road maintenance workers as he drove to work with his cousin. Lam's assailants prevented him from getting out of his car, and doused Lam and his cousin with petrol."死亡真相 林彬送院喊：左仔害死我 Facts: Lam Bun shouts on the way to hospital 'Lefties are responsible'" , Apple Daily, 13 May 2010. They were both then set on fire. Lam died later that day in a hospital; his cousin died several days later. Other prominent figures of the media who had voiced opposition against the riots were also threatened, including Louis Cha, then chairman of the Ming Pao newspaper, who consequently left Hong Kong for almost a year before returning.
The waves of bombings did not subside until October 1967. In December, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai ordered the leftist groups in Hong Kong to stop all bombings, and the riots in Hong Kong finally came to an end after eight months. It became known much later that, during the riots, the commander of the People's Liberation Army's Guangzhou Military Region Huang Yongsheng (one of Lin Biao's top allies) secretly suggested invading and occupying Hong Kong, but his plan was vetoed by Zhou Enlai.Revealed: the Hong Kong invasion plan , Michael Sheridan, The Sunday Times, 24 June 2007
Aftermath
Casualties By the time the rioting subsided at the end of the year, 51 people had been killed, of whom at least 22 were killed by the police and 15 died in bomb attacks, with another 832 people sustaining injuries, while 4,979 people were arrested and 1,936 convicted. Millions of dollars in property damage resulted from the rioting, far in excess of that reported during the 1956 riot. Confidence in the colony's future declined among some sections of Hong Kong's populace, and many wealthy residents sold their properties and migrated overseas, particularly to places such as Australia, Canada, and Singapore.