112. There was a further incident on 11th August. A group of farmers from Chinese Territory, who had climbed through the border fence to till their fields on British Territory and had behaved peacefully, asked to be allowed to return through the border gate at Lo Fong which had been kept locked because of the incident at Man Kam To the previous day. This was agreed but the small police and military party which had gone forward to open the gate, was savagely and without warning attacked by the farmers as they went past; an inspector was badly injured. The farmers were driven off by tear gas and baton shells during which action two machine gun bursts were fired from Chinese Territory into a field on the British side.
113. Towards the end of the month some of the tension at Lo Wu was eased and, possibly because of the imminence of the much publicized Canton Fair, the attitude of the Chinese officials became almost cordial.
114. This relaxation did not, however, last. On 29th September two police constables, who were off duty, inadvertently crossed the border at Man Kam To and were detained. Another constable, also off duty, was forcibly dragged across the border at Sha Tau Kok on 7th October, though he was released the next day after his mother had crossed into China to make a personal appeal. A week later a Senior Police Inspec- tor who was trying to placate a group of villagers near the Man Kam To bridge was seized by them and hustled over the border. After this incident the border at Man Kam To was again closed and remained closed for some weeks in spite of protests from the Chinese side. During this time, tension remained high on the border and there were clashes at both Lo Wu and Man Kam To during which on two occa- sions automatic fire was directed over the heads of our security forces from Chinese soil: it is believed that militia rather than regular P.L.A. forces were responsible. The Inspector later escaped, after being de- tained for 36 days and made his way back to Hong Kong. The two constables were released after prolonged and difficult discussions between British and Chinese border officials at the end of November.
115. Between that date and the end of the year there were no further incidents and, apart from a few isolated cases of stone-throwing, the border remained quiet. The Police and military remained jointly responsible for maintaining order in the closed area along the border.
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