SECRET
1.
POLITICAL AND INTERNAL SECURITY SITUATION
more than
It is now two years since the end of the Communist Campaign of violence against the Hong Kong authorities. During this period there
has been no organised violence in the Colony; there have been sporadic incidents involving violence on a minor scale but such incidents are believed to have been entirely spontaneous in origin and to have received no instigation or encouragement from the Communist authorities in Peking./ Y In fact such violence as there has been may reasonably be attributed to
the protracted difficulties experienced by the local Communist leader- ship in convincing their more militant cadres of the desirability of abandoning violence in favour of a long term ideological campaign to win public support for their cause,
2.
This latter course has been followed by the Communists for a considerable time now and as part of their campaign they seek every opportunity of criticising the authorities on the ground of real or alleged deficiencies in the administration of the Colony's affairs. They have been particularly critical in the spheres of public transport, crime, labour disputes, hawkers and resettlement schemes; but they do not hesitate to seize upon any opportunity which presents itself of furthering their ultimate objective, which is to undermine the authority of the Government./ There is no evidence to suggest that they are achieving any success in their campaign (except possibly in the sphere to increase of education); nor is there any reason whatever to suppose that they
in their forks
have any intention of abandoning their efforts to attain their ultimate vers objective.
Recent Incidents and Current Situation
of chilive altending
Cat
3. During August there were several incursions into Colony waters by motorised junks from Chinese territory in pursuit of illegal immigrants into the Colony. Encounters with police patrol laundes were involved and the incidents led to a message of protest being handed to the New Chinese News Agency by the Hong Kong authorities early in September.
4.
Minor stoning and fireworks incidents have occurred from time to time in the vicinity of the border. This area is always a sensitive one and such incidents do not normally excite comment. However, their frequency increased at the end of August and on 20 September a message was passed to the New Chinese News Agency asking them to draw the attention of the appropriate Chinese authorities to the incidents.
5.
The recent introduction of regulations controlling the activities of light buses (mini-buses) has given rise to a certain amount of trouble. An incident occurred on 27 September which involved the arrest of the crew of a mini-bus in the New Territories and which eventually necessitated the use of tear smoke by the police. The following day public mini-bus drivers throughout the Colony stopped work for several hours in protest against the enforcement of the regulations. Although several Communist supporters were involved in the original incident, the latter was entirely spontaneous and the Communist trade union concerned subsequently made it clear that stoppage did not have their backing. The Communist Chinese National Day celebrations on 1 October were the most uneventful for several years. It was evident that the local Communist leadership did everything possible to avoid any lion which might provoke an incident.
The
/Nationalist
securi)
SEGRET