0005160 G.F. 316
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Although discussions on events in Macau have been given priority during the month in left-wing circles, study of the "Thoughts of MAO Tse Tung" has continued (L.I.C. Report for November, 1966, paragraph 19 refors). On 2nd December the communist controlled Commercial Press held a meeting attended by some 100 people to celebrate their first printing of "Quotations from MAO Tse Tung". (I.I.C. Report for November, 1966, paragraph 19 refers). At the end of the month the explosion of China's fifth nuclear test device was celebrated by parties and meetings organised by left-wing schools, unions etc.
21.
The strike in the past Asia textile factory at Tsuen Wan during which the Cotton Industry ..orkers' General Union (C.I.E.G.U.) was supported by the Textile Workers' Asian Regional Organisation (T.W.A.R.O.) and the International Textile Garment Workers' Federation (I.T.G.W.F.) (L.I.C. report for November, 1966, paragraph 26 refers) came to an end without the question of an eight-hour day and six-day week being settled. It is planned that discussions on this point will continue between the union and the management. Although this particular dispute was not mentioned at the 8th Regional Conference of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (I.C.F.T.U.) - Asian Regional Organisation (A.R.C.) held in the Colony from 12th to 17th December, a resolution was adopted urging Government to make the granting of one paid rest day a week compulsory. The Conference was completely ignored by the left-wing press, although a representative publicly described as being from the "Republic of China" was present and in spite of oblique criticism of the current regime in China made by the Chairman of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Trades Union Council (T.U.C.).
22.
The Hong Kong Seamen's Union (H.K.S.U.) did not criticise the Seamen's Recruiting Office (S.R.0.) publicly during the month but did so at private meetings. They are apparently, however, collecting information on alleged hardships caused to seamen by the S.R.0. Meanwhile, they are attempting to exploit a dispute arising from an incident in Brisbane on 6th December 1966, when the ship's officers of the Royal Interocean Line vessel "Straat Malakka" shot and wounded four Chinese members of the crew. Although the dispute was settled in Australia, the H.K.S.U. have presented to the Hong Kong office of the owners a series of demands which include the dismissal of the captain. The owners are not prepared to meet any of these demands, and claim that the settlement reached in Australia was final. Fifty-five ships of the R.I.L.'s fleet are manned by Chinese crews, totalling some 3,000, of whom some 60% are believed to be members of the H.K.S.U. Though strict disciplinarians, R.I.L. are regarded as being good employers and thus the likelihood of any mass "walk-out" seems remote. Nevertheless, particularly in view of current poor Sino/Dutch relations this dispute could easily develop.
23.
On the morning of 8th December a police corporal, while arresting a hawker in the Chai Wan Resettlement Area, had his revolver seized by the hawker. In the ensuing struggle three shots were fire, and the hawker, a young boy and a passer-by were injured. The following day, the U.N.A.H.K. held at Chai Wan a press conference organised by MA Man Fai (7456/2429/6540), the Executive Secretary of U.N.A.H.K., and attended by some 50 persons including eight reporters and local hawkers and Kaifong members. Officials of U.N.A.H.K. Chai Wan Hawkers Group, a body already in existence but considerably strengthened as a result of this affair, encouraged eye witnesses, including the hawker's wife, to give their versions of the incident and accused the police of using firearms unnecessarily. They called upon the Hong Kong Government to take swift action to have the corporal punished and the victims compensated. An official of the group made a comparison between ! the "alleged indiscriminate use of force by the Hong Kong police at Chai Wan, and the recent Taipa Island incident in Macau which
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