The 1967 riots and the making of ‘Hongkongers’ – a police officer’s account
In an excerpt from the book Stories from the Royal Hong Kong Police, a former officer remembers 18 tumultuous months in the city’s history and how the impact of those events can be felt today
On the 3rd December 1966, the main story on the front page of the South China Morning Post was the talks on the cruiser HMS Tiger between the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, and Ian Smith, the leader of Rhodesia, over the future of that colony. The front page also carried a sidebar headed, “Macau Leftists Resume Demonstrations”. That article described a noisy and sometimes violent demonstration at a “read in” of the quotations of Chairman Mao Zedong, the leader of the People’s Republic of China, at Government House in Macau.
There was no way I could have known that this seemingly insignificant incident would morph into something which would loom large in the eighteen months to come.
British Hong Kong was between Communist China under Mao Zedong and Nationalist Taiwan under Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT). Each considered themselves the “true” China, and Hong Kong tried hard to strike a balance between the two, though, in 1950, the United Kingdom had recognised the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as the legitimate government of the “one China”.
It was important for peace and order in Hong Kong that institutions supporting either side were not allowed to use the colony to openly continue their political struggles. Consequently, the Hong Kong government was at pains to ensure that, in spite of permitting the existence of trade unions, organs of the press, and schools, supporting (and supported by) either the CCP or KMT, their political enmity did not spill over into disturbance in Hong Kong.
The Double Ten riots in October 1956 resulted in fifty-nine deaths and some five hundred injured. Subsequently there was a complete review of the Hong Kong Police’s internal security structure and practices. The flying of either Nationalist or Communist flags remained sensitive issues for many years thereafter.
These disturbances also resulted in the formation of the Police Training Contingent (PTC), the forerunner of the Police Tactical Unit (PTU). The aim was that as many members of the Force as possible, both officers and rank and file, would pass through PTC and be trained in riot drill and internal security tactics. This provided a large trained cadre able to regroup into security mode from normal watch and ward duties at short notice as and when required.
