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14.
The conviction of SIT Ping who was sentenced to two years' imprisonment (see paragraph 9 above) on 19th July not with the expected outburst of protests from China. The People's Daily, the M.C.N.A. Peking, and the All China Journalists Association denounced the sentence. In retaliation, the Peking authorities placed the Reuters correspondent in Peking under house arrest.
15.
A new and most disturbing feature of the local scene was the use of explosive devices which, from the middle of the month, became the leading feature of the communist confrontation campaign. Their use increased steadily from two or three a day to fourteen a day at the end of the month. The technique first adopted was for the bombs to be thrown over perimeter walls of Government and Military premises, or at security forces in the street; this was gradually supplanted by the indiscrimate placing of bombs in public places, although the former technique was not abandoned entirely. Police stations, post offices and other Government buildings, as well as both public and police vehicles were regular targets for these attacks, but a large proportion of the bombs were merely left in the street with no apparent target. The majority of devices used contained firework powder and on several occasions exploded prematurely, injuring their carriers, in some cases fatally. flost bombs were detected and dealt with before they could explode and there were surprisingly few casualties, although nine persons were slightly injured at a tran terminus on Hong Kong Island on 26th July when a bomb in a strat: effigy exploded. All the bombs used were crudely construc'ed home-made devices.
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'Hoax' bombs also became a feature of this terrorist campaign, causing as much trouble as genuine bombs while the inevitable reports by members of the public of suspicious objects, later found to be innocuous, added yet another burden to the task of the Security Forces. However, the Hong Kong public went about their business with their characteristic aplomb and, if the aim of this campaign was to intiuidate the public into supporting the communists, it failed, for the reaction was one of revulsion and anger towards the perpotrators of these acts.
17.
Only one further incident of mob violence occurred during the month. On the evening of 26th July, a crowd of some four hundred attacked and burnt vehicles in the Mongkok area of Kowloon. The crowd was dispersed by police with tear gas and a person involved in a bomb attack against a bus was shot dead.
18.
During the course of the month cormunist unions continued to pay out strike pay to workers still absent from work but the system of distribution was seriously disrupted by continued police raids on union premises. Raids were carried out on almost a daily basis on communist schools, unions, China products stores and other communist organisations. During these raids large seizures were made of weapons, gas-masks, and inflammatory posters, and of 994 persons arrested, 241 were charged with various related offences. A particularly useful raid was conducted on the Federation of Trade Unions Workers' Club on 17th July, a base used by the A.C.A.P.S.C.
the A.C.A.P.S.C. The large quantity of documents seized included accounts showing that over $17,000,000 had been paid out to communist unions since the start of the "general strike" in late June, 1967. At the same time Special Branch arrests of selected communist personalities were carried out and by the end of the month, twenty-one persons were being held under the Deportation of Aliens' Ordinance, including two paid officials of the A.C.A.P.3.C., a communist school headmaster and a number of union officials. Following the raid on the Workers' Club, all officials of any standing in local connist labour circles went into hiding and overt union activities ceased.
19.
The month ended with two items of interest from China. On 30th July the All China Federation of Trade Unions donated a further ten million Hong Kong dollars for the use of striking hong Kong workers. On the following day the Acting Chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army, speaking at an Argy Day reception in Peking, made a long speech on various subjects during which he stated that "we are determined to liberate Taiwan and give support and aid to our patriotic country men in Hong Kong in their heroic struggle against the British". The co-relation of these aims must have been cold comfort to local communists.
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