Rewriting history? Hong Kong police accused of political correctness in revising official account of 1967 riots
Force criticised for taking out sensitive references such as 'red fat cats' and 'communist militia' in describing riots, but claims changes were supposed to make account 'more concise'
The police force has amended its official version of history during the 1967 riots by replacing phrases like "communist militia" with "gunmen" and deleting detailed descriptions of the events, such as pro-Beijing leftist mobs threatening bus and tram drivers who refused to strike.
A former senior policeman involved in the suppression of the riots called such change "unnecessary", while a political scientist said it showed how political correctness was foremost in the minds of officials.
However a police spokesman said the amendments were motivated only be a wish to offer a "more concise presentation of content with revised wordings".
READ MORE: Leftists' role in riots must not be whitewashed
By contrasting the current and a previous version of the webpage archived in June last year, which offers an official perspective of how the force views its own history between 1945 and 1967, web users of HKGolden - an online forum popular among youngsters critical of the establishment - found that certain parts had vanished.
The 1967 riots were an extension of the mainland's Cultural Revolution, during which pro-Beijing radicals turned to violence in seeking to overthrow the colonial government.
A paragraph that details the height of the riots after the trigger point of an increase in Star Ferry fares was cut by more than half. Among passages deleted were references to rioters waving the Quotations of Chairman Mao when they marched on Government House.