CONFIDENTIAL
INWARD TELEGRAM
TO THE COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (The Secretary of State)
FROM HONG KONG (0.A.G.)
10
10
JUL
1967
22
Cypher
D. 9 July 1967
R. 9
1600Z
IMMEDIATE
No.988
CONFIDENTIAL
COPY FOR REGISTRATION
Addressed to Commonwealth Office
Peking No. 396
Repeated to:
POLAD Singapore No.225 Washington No.218
(Please pass PRIORITY to all)
Incident at Sha Tau Kok on 8 July.
RECEIVED IN ARCHIVES No.63
id JULIJol
HWAY/L
Following is more detailed account from police and military sources of yesterday's incident at Sha Tau Kok.
2. From 0930 on 8 July demonstrators began to gather in the frontier area at Sha Tau Kok (Chinese territory). Soon afterwards the shops closed which is normally the precursor of trouble. During the next hour other groups began to gather near the horder and anti-British propaganda was broadcast over loudspeakers. A machine-gun mounted on the roof of a shop on the Chinese side of Chung Ying Street, through which the border runs, was manned. Those manning it were not wearing normal border troops uniform. (This seems to be the same machine-gun post as that referred to in my telegram No.905.)
30 At about 1100 hours the crowd converged on the Sha Tau Kok police post in British Territory (B.T.) about 50 yards from the border, and a group of 3-400, apparently controlled and well organised, surrounded the police post and threw home-made bombs, normally used for illegal fishing, over the perimeter fence. When the police attempted to disperse the crowd by firing baton shells and tear gas, automatic fire was opened on the post, believed to have come from the machine-gun referred to in paragraph 2 above. At this time a riot company on its way up to support the post was fired upon by rifles and the machine-gun. During this stage two Pakistani policemen in the post were killed by snipers, apparently from Chinese territory (C.T.) and two policemen in the relieving company were mortally wounded. There were several other casualties including one European officer. At about 1120 hours the Rural Committee offices, where there was a Police reserve of two platoons, and which is about 200 yards inside British Territory (B.T.) was fired at from positions to the north near a village on the British side of the border and rifle (?fire) was reported from another village half a mile inside the border. Attempts were made to blow up the perimeter fence of the forward post and the police opened fire, hitting two men who were dragged away. It is believed that this was the first time the police fired with ball ammunition (carbines) but it has not yet been possible to confirm this. As soon as confirmation is
/received
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