which
11th May
Press
The left wing/contained allegations of police brutality
towards those arrested and of the lack of medical attention for them.
It also warned "those few Hong Kong British Special Agents and prison underlings who have beaten up the Chinese compatriots" that if they remain obdurate national discipline will not tolem te them". The blood debt they owe to compatriots will one day have to be paid. Through the afternoon workers demonstrated outside the Kowloon artificial flower works and held an illegal meeting which grew to some 1.500 persons. The demonstrators pushed against the factory gates and the management called on the police for protection. The police tried to reason with the damonat ators but they persisted and bottles and refuse were thrown at the police. Souffles developed and about 60 persons were arrested. The police used batons and baton shells only. In the evening the situation deteriorated; the auxiliary police were called out a a curfew covering the disturbed area of N.E. Kowloon was imposed from 21.30 hours to 05.30
Мори hours (12th May). By 21.00 hours 90 had been arrested and 11 injured (one seriously). At 21.45 hours four C.S.Gas shells were fired in one instance, otherwise only batons and baton shells were used. In order to provide personnel from the auxiliary air force for helicopter observation duties the Governor authorised a limited call-out by the
Commander, Hong Kong Defence Force. By midnight the affected area had returned to nor al, most police units were withdrawn but mobile patrola contin ed to operate. 127 persons were arrested and 14 persons were injured. A total of 53 gas-shells had been fired during the morning and afternoon. Discussions wore known to be taking place between the Left-Wing Federation of Trade Unions and the main left-wing unions. The Kowloon
Motor is Co Motor Bus Co., employees considered taking tokan strike action. The
Left-Wing members continued their allegations against the British authorities, accusing them, inter alia, of "brazen anti-Chinese activity" and "taking "U.S. Imperialism chestnuts out of the fire". It also described the Governor as the "principal trouble-meker" and alleged that "all the criminal responsibility for the series of bloody suppression agaknot must be laid at his door. It waned the Governor that the
Chinese people-who have armed themselves with the evor-victorious thoughts of Mau- are not to be trifled with". The Governor reported that all available information suggested that the disturbances on the 6th May had not been planned in advance either by by the rubber and plastic workers' union or by any other organisation. The rank and file had bean encouraged to develop a "strugɛle" against the management and what started off as peaceful picketing degenerated into violence. It seems unlikely that the Hong Kong left-wing leadership were at this stage looking for a confrontation with Government but that the arrests of the workers dispute became a political struggle with the result that the leadership now had little alternative but to exert all out pressure on the long long Government to accept the demands (see paragraph who had been made in the style of Macao. The left-wing press published
/their
above)
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