former members of a communist guerilla unit, the East
River Column which had been active in South China during
the war. A communist newspaper the Wa Sheung Po also
commenced publication and, in early 1948, a local office
of the Ta Kung Pao was reopened (a branch is known to
have been in existence in Hong Kong between 1938 and
1941). The Wen Wei Pao moved its headquarters to the
Colony later the same year following its closure in
Shanghai by the Kuomintang (K.M.T.). At this stage
both the Ta Kung Pao and the Wen Wei Pao were still under
the control of breakaway groups of the K.M.T. party
the former being controlled by the Political Science
Clique while the latter was run by the Revolutionary
Committee of the K.M.T.
3.
In 1949 the Ta Kung Pao made an abortive
effort to publish an evening edition under the title
'Ho Siu Sik Evening News'; a few months later another
attempt was made and the New Evening Post, which is
still with us today, made its appearance.
4.
With the establishment of the Chinese People's
Government (C.P.G.) the Wa Sheung Po moved to Canton and
the Ta Kung Pao, the Wen Wei Pao and the New Evening Post
became the centre-piece of the local communist press
media, a position they have retained to this day. Until
the mid 1950's they retained a certain degree of autonomy
but since then they have come increasingly under the
control of the local branch of the N.C.N.A. office which
dictates the policy line. To ensure that instructions
are rigidly followed, N.C.N.A. staff-members have been
transferred to the newspapers. In short these chronicles
now have no freedom of editorial comment whatsoever.
/5......
CONFIDENTIAL