ENG-1967 — Page 37

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protests from the Chinese side, and because of the continuing unrest the army took over from the police the responsibility for patrolling the whole of the border area. Man Kam To, however, remained a trouble spot. Two off-duty policemen who inadvertently crossed the border at this point were forcibly detained; and a senior police inspector, who was engaged in trying to conciliate a group of villagers in the vicinity of the bridge, was seized by them and forcibly taken over the border. The inspector managed to escape, after being held for 36 days, and made his way back to Hong Kong. The two policemen were returned to the Colony at the end of November after talks held with Chinese border officials.

The Sha Tau Kok incident was interpreted by the communist press in Hong Kong as armed support for confrontation and it was followed by renewed violence both in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island. Demonstrations were staged in the vicinity of communist shops and other premises from which gangs emerged to ambush the police as they arrived to investigate. Attacks were made on police units and on drivers of public vehicles. From July 9 to 12 there was a widespread succession of incidents in which one police- man and seven rioters lost their lives.

July 12 marked a turning point. Up to this time the various methods of attack by the communists had been met and contained and they had gained no ground in their struggle. But it was they that had done most of the attacking and they had put considerable strain on the police and on the many public servants and others who had been forced to work long hours in the maintenance of public order. On July 12 the acting Colonial Secretary announced in the Legislative Council that from then on the government was deter- mined to grasp and maintain the initiative. This promise was followed by immediate action. On that day, and on the days follow- ing, strong parties of police, backed up by military units, raided the principal communist strongholds, including union premises and schools; they seized stocks of home-made weapons and explosives as well as inflammatory posters and literature, and they took into custody a number of people suspected of subversive activities.

The initial raids were strenuously resisted. In an action against the Kowloon Dock Workers Amalgamated Union premises the defenders used bottles, daggers, acid and firebombs and it took