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little affected and an adequate service was maintained throughout. A further
attack was launched in the middle of July by the Seamen's Union, which
declared a general boycott of the port. Goods from Chinese ports by-passed
Kong Kong and were re-routed through Singapore or through Japanese ports, while
goods already landed from China and awaiting transhipment in Hong Kong were
retained in the godowns. Communist organisations in Hong Kong declared that,
because of the boycott, the port was at a complete standstill and advised
leading shipping lines to tranship cargoes at other ports. This propaganda
had some effect, in that some cargoes were diverted to other ports and some
shipowners re-arranged their schedules to sail ships either to Hong Kong or
to China ports but not to both. The threat offered by the boycott in Hong Kong
itself was met by an intensive counter-propaganda campaign mounted by the Marine
Department to explain the facts and to answer queries from seamen and to counter
the intimidation, both veiled and direct, to which they had been subjected. As
a result 1,222 seamon reported for jobs at the Government Seamen's Recruiting
Office during the first ten days that the boycott was supposed to be in operation
and in only two cases (where there were other considerations) were ships delayed
for lack of a crow. ▲ small number of seamen signed off their ships but were
replaced, without difficulty, through the Seamen's Recruiting Office. Indeed
in many cases those who had signed off re-applied for employment after spendin;:
a day or two ashore having, no doubt, decided for themselves that all was well
in the Colony. Durin, the second week of September four ships arrived in the
port from China to discharge cargo consigned to Hong Kong, to mark the first
break in the boycott; and since then the tonnage of cargoes from China has
steadily increased.
These work stoppages, both in the port and elsewhere, were purely
political and that there is no substance in the suggestion that labour conditions
have been the underlying cause of confrontation in Hong Kong. The labour dispute
at the artificial flower works was discarded as soon as confrontation was under
way and the voluminous poster campaign and the endless propaganda that emanated
from communist sources during the summer made no mention at all of industrial
conditions.
While these events had been taking place in the urban areas the New
Territories had remained comparatively quiet. There had been some demonstrations
and a sporadic display of posters in the market towns and in the industrial
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