1967 Hong Kong riots
The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale riots against the British Hong Kong government by supporters of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations escalated into large-scale protests against British colonial rule. The use of roadside bombs and petrol bombs by pro-CCP demonstrators prompted the Hong Kong Police Force to storm the demonstrators' strongholds and arrest their leaders. A few police officers and several civilians were killed by the bombs, and several  demonstrators were killed in the raids. As many of the bombs were made in communist-leaning schools, Governor David Trench closed those schools and banned communist publications. It was the first series of riots since the 1956 Hong Kong riots. 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 and riots were labour disputes that began as early as May 1967 in shipping, taxi, textile, cement companies and in particular the Hong Kong Artificial Flower Works, where there were 174 pro -CCP trade unionists. The unions that took up the cause were all members of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions with strong ties to Beijing. The political climate was tense in Hong Kong in the spring of 1967. To the north of the British colony's border, the PRC was in turmoil. Red Guards carried out purges and engaged in infighting, while the 12-3 incident sponsored by pro-CCP demonstrators erupted in the Portuguese colony of Macau, to the west of Hong Kong, in December 1966. Despite the intervention of the Portuguese army, order was not  restored to Macau; and after a general strike in January 1967, the Portuguese government agreed to meet many of the left-wing demands, placing the colony under the "de facto" control of the PRC. The tension in Hong Kong was heightened by the ongoing Cultural Revolution to the north. Up to 31 protests were held. Outbreak of violence. In May, a labour dispute broke out in a factory producing artificial flowers 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-CCP demonstrators carried "Little Red Books" 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 forces were called into duty. In the PRC, newspapers praised the demonstrators' activities, calling the British colonial government's actions "fascist atrocities". In Hong Kong, pro-Beijing newspapers  Ta Kung Pao and "Wen Wei Po" similarly voiced their support for the demonstrators and opposition to the British colonial government. In Hong Kong's Central District, large loudspeakers were placed on the roof of the Bank of China Building, broadcasting pro-CCP rhetoric and propaganda, prompting the British authorities to retaliate by putting larger speakers blaring out Cantonese opera. 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", a reference to the then Governor. Students distributed newspapers carrying  information about the disturbances and pro-CCP rhetoric to the public. On 16 May, the activists 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. Yeung Kwong of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions was appointed as 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 communist slogans. 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 left-wing "strongholds" such as newspaper offices, banks or department stores once the police arrived. Casualties began soon after. At least eight deaths of the protestors were recorded before 1 July, mostly shot or beaten to death by the police (see the incomplete list of deceased below). The height of the violence. On 8 July, several hundred demonstrators from the PRC, including members of  the People's Militia, crossed the frontier at Sha Tau Kok and attacked the Hong Kong Police, of whom five were shot dead and eleven injured in the brief exchange of fire. The "People's Daily" in Beijing ran editorials supporting the left-wing struggle in Hong Kong; rumours that the PRC was preparing to take over control of the colony began to circulate. The leftists tried in vain to organise a general strike; attempts to persuade the ethnic Chinese serving in the police to join the pro-CCP movement were equally unsuccessful. The left-wing retaliated by 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. Bomb disposal experts from the police and the British forces defused as many as 8,000 home-made bombs, of which 1,100 were found to be real. These were known as "pineapple bombs". 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. Left-wing newspapers were banned from publishing; left-wing schools alleged to be bomb-making factories, such as Chung Wah Middle School, were shut down; many activist 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 20-storey Bank of China Building (owned by the PRC government). In response, police raided activist 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 activists again switched tactics. On 24 August, Lam Bun, a popular anti-leftist 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 he was burned alive. 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 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 left-wing groups in Hong Kong to stop all bombings; and the riots in Hong Kong finally came to an end. The disputes in total lasted 18 months. It became known much later that, during the riots, the  commander of PLA'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. 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 832 people sustaining injuries, while 4979 people were arrested and 1936 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 residents sold their properties and migrated overseas. Reactions. On 22 August, in Beijing, thousands of people demonstrated outside the office of the British "chargé d'affaires", before Red Guards attacked and ransacked the main building, and then burned it down. New left-wing groups and legacy. Many left-wing groups with close ties to the PRC were dissolved during and after the 1967 riots. The murder of radio host Lam Bun, in particular, outraged many Hong Kong residents and discredited the leftist movement in Hong  Kong as a whole. The credibility of the PRC and its local sympathisers among Hong Kong residents was severely damaged for more than a generation. Some of the members who participated in the 1967 riot have since regained a foothold in Hong Kong politics during the early 1990s. Tsang Tak-sing, a CCP supporter and riot participant, later became the founder of the pro-Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong. Along with his brother Tsang Yok-sing, they continued to promote Marxism in Hong Kong. In 2001, Yeung Kwong, a pro-CCP party activist of  the 1960s, was awarded the Grand Bauhinia Medal under Tung Chee-hwa, a symbolic gesture that raised controversy as to whether the post-1997 Hong Kong government of the time was approving the riot. In 2017, hundreds of protesters who took part in the 1967 riots were hailed as heroes in a memorial ceremony at Wo Hop Shek public cemetery to mark the 50th anniversary of the uprising. Former finance sector lawmaker Ng Leung-sing and the Federation of Trade Unions' Michael Luk Chung-hung, along with Chan Shi-yuen, head of 67 Synergy Group were some of the prominent attendees . They called for Beijing to vindicate the protests, which they have continued to refer to as a "patriotic act against British colonial tyranny". Social reforms. The 1966 and 1967 riots in Hong Kong served as a catalyst for social reforms in Hong Kong, with the implementation of positive non-interventionism in 1971, while David Trench grudgingly introduced some social reforms, it was not until Murray MacLehose greatly expanded the scope of reforms which transformed lives of residents in Hong Kong, thus becoming one of the Four Asian Tigers. The 1970s marked starting of the Lion Rock Spirit. Legacy. The Hong  Kong Police Force was applauded for its behaviour during the riots by the British Government. In 1969, Queen Elizabeth granted the force the privilege of the "Royal" title. This remained in use until the end of British rule in 1997. Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing went on to become Hong Kong's most important Chinese real estate developer. Chinese philosopher and educator Chien Mu, founder of the New Asia College (now part of the Chinese University of Hong Kong), left for Taiwan. He was appointed to the Council for Chinese Cultural Renaissance by President Chiang Kai-shek. Police website  revisionism controversy. In mid-September 2015, media reported that the Hong Kong Police Force had made material deletions from its website concerning "police history", in particular, the political cause and the identity of the groups responsible for the 1967 riots, with mention of communists being expunged. For example, "Bombs were made in classrooms of left-wing schools and planted indiscriminately on the streets" became "Bombs were planted indiscriminately on the streets"; the fragment "waving aloft the Little Red Book and shouting slogans" disappeared, and an entire sentence criticising the hypocrisy of wealthy pro-Beijing businessmen, the so-called "red fat  cats" was deleted. The editing gave rise to criticisms that it was being sanitised, to make it appear that the British colonial government, rather than activists, were responsible. Stephen Lo, the new Commissioner of Police, said the content change of the official website was to simplify it for easier reading; Lo denied that there were any political motives, but his denials left critics unconvinced. The changes were subsequently reversed.