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(b) The Chungking Gung.
An armed organisation of about 2,000 with leaders of better class type, though the majority of the rank and file are just gangsters. Said to have been sent into the Colony from Free China in 1943 as an underground organisation to murder Japanese personnel, commit acts of sabotage, and collect information.
When the Jups departed they came out into the open and approached the police with an offer of assistance in preserving law and order. They are naturally the rival organisation of the Jap Gambling House Gang, mentioned in (a) above.
Their offer was accepted and they were allowed to wear armlets to signify their official status. Unfortunately, instead of preserving law and order, many directed their efforts to large-scale looting, using their armlets to assist them in this. Others are known to have sold their armlets to other gangsters. It became necessary to suppress them and orders were given that their services were no longer required and armlets were to be handed in.
It is hoped to come to terms with the leaders with a view to breaking up the organisation and returning its members to China proper, as is being done with the Cambling House Cang.
(c) Triad Societies.
Chinese secret societies of long standing engaged principally in the prosecution of all forms of vice. They work on their own, though members of these societies were to be found in the ranks of both the Gambling House Gang and the Chungking fang, It was estimated in 194.1 that there were some 60,000 members of riad Societies in the Colony. lost of them are amed.
In December 1941 when the Japs were in Kowloon attacking Hongkong the Triad Society decided to stop the war and so prevent the killing of innocent Chinese in owloon by British shelling. They proposed to murder British personnel. The Japs would then come in, hostilities would cease, but the Japs would lose the war in the end and would be kicked out of iongkong again. The police got hold of the information in time and were able to talk the leaders of the Society into giving up their ideas and to direct their efforts against WANG CHING WAI, supporters of whom there were many in the Colony at the time. Over 400 were disposed of in this manner.
The Triad Societies are still active and trouble is bound to
come from them eventually,
5.
It is not thought that any trouble is likely to come from Communist Organisations in the Colony until things generally are more settled and more prosperous conditions prevail.
6.
In order to deal with the illegal armas menace it is proposed to ask for a Proclamation requiring everybody to hand in their arms by a certain date, with severe penalties for non-compliance.
The Co-oper- ation of Naval and Military personnel will be sought to assist in systematic searches for arms.
7.
There are likely to be large-scale arrests for some time and under the existing law of the Colony, the police are required to charge and produce before a Magistrate each person arrested within 48 hours of arrest. This will be impossible with the police personnel available and the police propose to ask for an emergency measure legalising a longer period of detention prior to presentation in Court,