0003230
*G.F. 323
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Indeed
Kowloon Dock Workers Amalgamated Union premises the defenders used bottles,
daggers, acid and firebombs and it took the Police three hours to complete the
break in. The secretary of the union was killed during the struggle; and
81 persons were arrested to the obvious approval of other occupants of the
building. Subsequent raids met with little or no physical opposition.
the threat of invasion by the Police at any time forced the opposition to
avoid gathering for meetings at their usual premises and many centres that were
raided were found to be unoccupied. Sporadic violence continued but the communist
organisations were disrupted and driven underground. They began to talk of a
long struggle and although their newspapers continued their stream of
inflammatory propaganda and wore now inciting to armed insurrection, their
readers grew less and support for confrontation dwindled to a hard core of
dedicated and fanatical men and women.
Constant
Pressure against the communist organisations was maintained.
raids were mounted against known centres of subversive activity and in August
three communist newspapers were suppressed and their elitors were prosecuted
for sedition, an action which resulted in a strong protest from Peking.
similar protest had been made in July when an employee of the New China News
Agency was arrested for taking part in an illegal assembly. The protest was
rejected and was followed by the Retuers correspondent in Peking being placod
under house arrest. Two other employees of the Now China News Agency in Hong
Kong were subsequently arrested on similar charges and the Peking Government
on the 20th of August issued what amounted to an ultimatum. Within 48 hours
all employees of the Now China News Agency must be released and action against
the newspapers and their editors must be withdrawn. Failure to do so would
result in 'serious
This domand was also rejected.
consequences'.
The
threatened reprisal took place not against Hong Kong, but against the Office
of the British Chargé d'Affaires at Peking, which was sacked by a mob on the
22nd of August.
attacks.
1
In Hong Kong confrontation entered a new phase of indiscriminate 'bomb
There was a hint of terrorism to come in the publication in August
of a list of prominent members of the community who were said to be marked
for assassination. But in the event the only victims were a well-known
wireless commentator, Mr. Lam Bun, and his cousin who together were drenched in
petrol and burned to death in a particularly vicious attack which excited
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