Ta Kung Pao May 31, 1967
HYF Stoppage In Defiance of Police Intimidation
The Hongkong Yaumati Ferry work- ers gave the Hongkong British authorities the lie by staging a three-hour stoppage Monday morning right under the nose of police detectives who had been de- tailed to travel with the ferries 'to pre- vent intimidation of crews.
For according to David Trench, the recent stoppages carry with them an element of intimidation. Without the in- timidation, there would be virtually no stoppages, because there isn't enough support for them."
Now it is all clear that if there was an element of intimidation', it was that injected into the situation by the plain- clothesmen and it has miserbly misfired.
It is apparent that the stoppage at Yaumati Ferry would not have been as long as three hours if the workers had not been angered by the authorities' un- founded accusation and the presence of detec. as on the ferries.
Copies of a poster were put up by the II the Yaumati Ferry ter-
ids:
ung British authorities have perpetrated bloody atrocities, d injuring our compatriots. We test! Protest! Protest!
Hongkong British authorities have detailed plainclothes detectives to travel with the ferries in order to prevent us
Calling protest stoppages.
we have decided to call a stoppage from six to nine this morning as a pro- test and a reply to the Hongkong Bri- tish authoritics' provocation.'
Slogans were posted in all the fer- rics and they read:
Long live the ever-victorious thought of Mao Tse-tung!'
'Protest against the Hongkong British authorities' fascist atrocities!'
*Protest against illegal arrests! Protest against illegal trials! Protest against illegal sentences!'
'Set free at once the patriotic compa- triots who were arrested without grounds!"
Waterworks' Threat Misfires
Ferries anchored in orderly manner in the Yaumati Typhoon
Shelter during Monday's stoppage—a symbol of the solidarity of the ferry workers.
"The Hongkong British authorities will be routed; we shall win!'
The workers of the Hongkong Water- works staged a 2-hour stoppage from 8.00 to 10.00 a.m. yesterday in protest against the bloody suppression by the British Hongkong authorities of Chinese nationals here.
A notice had been suddenly put up the night before by the Hongkong au- thorities at the Waterworks forbidding workers to stop work and threatening them with dismissal if they did. But the workers courageously disregarded the intimidation.
With a high regard for public interest, they kept the water running as usual during the stoppage.
Mounting Protests
Against Fascist Outrages
May 23:
Chinese workers and stu- dents in Hongkong staged protest strikes today against the British Hongkong au- thorities' massacre of May 22-a fascist persecution of Chinese compatriots.
The bus workers of Hongkong stop- ped work, starting today.
At the same time, the 3,000 Chinese dock workers in the Tai Koo Dock Yard today held a one-hour work stoppage and the students of the Pui Kiu Middle School did not attend classes today in protest against the British Hongkong au- thorities' bloody massacre of Chinese compatriots. May 24: Workers of all trades have organised themselves to hit back at the British Hongkong authorities. Bus drivers in Hongkong city today con- tinued their strike which began on yes- terday afternoon. Bus, dock, gas and electric workers staged work stoppages today. The Heungto Middle School was closed for a day in protest against the British authorities.
Tram workers held a meeting today to condemn the British Hongkong au thorities' unreasonable arrest and beat- ing up of tram workers and others. The meeting called on the workers to carry the anti-persecution struggle through to
the end.
The Committee of the Hongkong Seamen for the struggle against per- secution by the British Hongkong au-
thorities today issued a message to all Chinese seamen in Hongkong, calling on them to be prepared at all times to take punitive actions against the bar- barous British Hongkong authorities. May 25: Workers at the Star Ferry staged an one-hour strike between 16:30 hours and 17:30 hours today. The work- ers of the Kowloon China Light and Power Co., Ltd. staged a three-hour strike between 13:00 hours and 16:00 hours and held a meeting to condemn the British Hongkong authorities. En- raged by the British atrocities, the work- ers of the Hongkong Farm Ice and Cold Storage Co., Ltd. staged a work stop- page.
The angry wave against the British violence is sweeping to islands near Hongkong. Residents of Cheung Chau islet near the new territories established a Committee of People of All Circles for the Struggle. They pledged to sup- port all actions and calls by the Com- mittee of the Hongkong-Kowloon Com- patriots of All Circles for the Struggle Against Persecution by British Hongkong Authorities.
Banking, insurance, trading, publish- ing and other agencies of the People's Republic of China in Hongkong lodged urgent and strong protests with the Bri- tish Hongkong 'Governor' on the bloody May 22 slaughter and on the serious incidents of the beating up and
Phantom Villages
When David Trench said that he enjoyed the support of 95 per cent of the Hongkong population, someone wisecracked: 'Gee, he's modest. If all the associations which came out in support of him do represent the numbers of persons they claimed they could represent (a Buddhist association claimed that it represented half a million), he could easily count on 200 per cent of the popu- lation in support of his policy.
The question is of course how much these claims are worth. We have been overwhelmed with letters from members and even committee members of many of such associations to protest that they had not been consulted about the public statements said to be made by such associations.
Here is a part of one of these letters:
The publication of the so-called 'support statement by various Heung Kung So (village associations) in some of the newspapers was a comedy staged and played by a few lackeys in the Secretariat for Chinese Affairs. ... There has never been a Pingshek Village Association or a Pingtian Village Association. Pingshek Village was in fact razed by the Hongkong British authorities a few months ago and the villagers, with their homes broken and properties lost, are not yet adequately compensated. The aged village head has been in a very bad mood. How could he have come out in support of the Hongkong British authorities? Listed were also Kailiu, Saitsowan and Ngautaukok village associations. But all these villages have been destroyed by the Hongkong British authorities during the great resettle- ment, and they no longer exist.
arresting of Chinese working personnel.
The cinema workers held a meeting today to condemn the British imperial- ists.
May 26: The Chinese workers in the Marine Department staged a three-hour work stoppage between 8 o'clock and 11 o'clock a.m. today, bringing all the ships to a stand-still. The workers en- sured normal sailing of medical ships to nearby islets. The workers in places where Chinese ships were at anchor also worked as usual.
Post office workers staged an one-day strike, halting delivery of all letters. The more than five hundred workers in a section of the China Light and Power Co. Ltd. staged a two-hour work stop- page between 8 and 10 a.m. The more than 300 workers of the Tai-Koo Sugar Refining Co. Ltd. staged a 24-hour strike starting 8 o'clock on the morning of May 26.
The more than 3,000 workers at the Tai Koo Dock Yard held a three-hour work stoppage this afternoon. This was the second such action they had taken since the May 22 bloody incident.
During the work stoppages, the work- ers held meetings in factories or trade union halls to condemn the British per- secution. In speeches, the workers de-
nounced the British authorities.
Anti-persecution leaflets appeared in the downtown districts of Hongkong and Kowloon today, calling on the Chinese to take action under the guidance of the great red banner of Mao Tse-tung's thought, and hit back at the British Hongkong authorities who were guilty of fascist atrocities.
As the anti-persecution struggle against the British Hongkong authorities grows, the fishermen at the Hongkong Chai, and the patriotic women and industrialists and businessmen have organised their own committees for the struggle against British persecution.
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