TNAG-0041-FCO40-77-Future-Sovereignty-of-Hong-Kong-Defence-Review-Working-Party-1967 — Page 82

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Poluo

render

timbie

CONFIDENTIAL

is, however, no evidence of Chinese Army involvement.

There is no evidence either that the incident was engineered

by Peking, although its inflammatory propaganda may well have contributed. We see no reason to disagree with the Governor's

assessment that militant villagers, including militia, are

responsible; it seems likely that they were egged on by Communist

elements in the British part of the village who left it after

the earlier incident there on 24th June and that they were acting

with the approval of the local authorities.

Presum from fr. bead

Cather

Elsewhere in the Colony there were a number of scattered

incidents on Saturday and Sunday, mostly of a minor nature. They

have followed a similar pattern and appear to have been deliberately created, possibly in the hope of taking advantage of the border

incident.

In two of the incidents there were casualties. In one the

ringleader of a rioting crowd, which refused to disperse, was shot dead by the Police. In the other a policeman was killed and the

Police had to open fire in self-defence injuring three persons, two

of whom subsequently died.

The characteristics of these incidents were the use of students in comparatively minor demonstrations as bait in the area of a Communist store or office, with an ambush party ready in the building to take

on the Police when they arrived.

This return to violence may mark a new phase:

frustration

over the lack of success of their efforts to promote stoppages

of labour may be responsible.

11th July, 1967

CONFIDENTIAL