She pointed out that she had absolute right to intervene and to protect
Chinese nationals of Hong Kong because she claimed Hong Kong as a
Chinese territory, and that all Chinese in Hong Kong were Chinese
nationals. Chinese nationals, therefore, have the right to revolt.
Cases such as this demonstrate that whenever needed offensely to combat
"compatriots" as a political device will provide
a political enemy,
China a legitimate means of intervening.
24
Calling Hong Kong Chinese "compatriots" has also allowed the PRC to
intervene in Hong Kong politics and defend itself against Kuomintang
followers, as was demonstrated in the 1956 riot. About 8,000 retired
Kuomintang soldiers and sympathizers were then involved in an anti-
Peking demonstration.
When the demonstrations
turned into violence,
according to Hong Kong official accounts, Kuomintang and Communist
factions fought against each other,
resulting in many casualties and
much property damage. But Peking protested and accused the Hong Kong
25
government of being pro-Kuomintang.
She claimed that Kuomintang
activists in Hong Kong had been anti-Peking for years and needed to be
suppressed, yet the Hong Kong government had failed to do so. She said
she was concerned for the lives and property of her nationals in Hong
26 Kong. In Hong Kong, as well as other parts of Southeast Asia, whenever
an anti-Peking political campaign appears, a local counterforce appears
to defend China's political interests. When that happens, she will
So.
27
Again.
claim concern because her "compatriots" allowed her to do
in the early 1950s, when the Kuomintang was still actively engaged in
its campaign against the Peking regime, Hong Kong was used as a base to
sabotage the Communist regime in China. A few incidents of questionable
origin
An airplane which exploded after taking off from Hong
Kong on April 11, 1955,
by the
occurred.
was suspected to have been planted with a bomb
28
Kuomintang,
and Peking protested. In other cases,
suspected
12