TNAG-0003-FCO40-39-Commission-of-Enquiry-into-the-Kowloon-disturbances-addition-1968 — Page 15

PART I INTRODUCTION

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36. The fact that Hong Kong has only experienced one riot in the previous ten years is a tribute to the general patience and good sense of the population and the vigilance of the police force. It also explains the shock which the community experienced in April 1966, when demonstrations escalated into rioting. The Governor's initiative in promising, on April 7th, an inquiry into the causes was widely welcomed at the time.

37. The need for an inquiry into a riot which caused few casualties and comparatively little damage has been subsequently questioned and the events of April have been overtaken in the public mind by the serious rains and flooding in June and by the cultural revolution in China. It is therefore worth mentioning that the significance of this riot lay in the rarity of riots in Hong Kong together with the fact that Hong Kong, with so large a proportion of its population crowded into the urban areas, is so small that riots here have a much greater effect on the whole community than riots of far greater size and with a significantly greater number of casualties in a large country. A riot in Hong Kong is a national event and can readily incapacitate a great part of the Colony.

38. One further important factor in people's assessment of the significance of riots to the community arises from Hong Kong's growing dependence on foreign investment and tourism to maintain its social and economic progress. Many people in the community remember the financial loss to the Colony occasioned by the 1956 riots. In April, the population had been apprehensive about the economic future as a result of the banking and building crisis and was anxious to avoid anything which might spark off another trade recession or shake foreign confidence in the stability of the Colony. Hong Kong could not afford it and on every hand was heard, 'This must not happen again'. How could it be avoided? The first step was to find out how the disturbances started and then apply the lessons learned.

39. The format of our report. In approaching the task of reporting on the results of our inquiry we propose, having first referred in very general terms to a few of the more prominent features of the background, to proceed to a closer examination of the climate of opinion on price increases generally and public transport fares in particular (Part II The Star Ferry Fares Issue); then to describe in some detail the events of the week beginning April 4th (Part III The Disturb- ances); then to consider the measures taken by the security forces (Part IV The Measures Taken To Deal With The Disturbances); and then to examine the part played by two Urban Councillors (Part V Chapter 1 The Two Urban Councillors) and determine what sort of people joined the demonstrations and riots-what were their motives and what did they seek to achieve (Part V Chapter 2 The Demonstrators and Rioters): finally we devote two chapters to examining the immediate causes of the disturbances and alleged causes of underlying unrest or discontent (Part VI).

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