ENG-2012 — Page 428

21

History

followed by a serious general strike in 1925-26 under pressure from Canton. This petered out, though not before causing considerable disruption in Hong Kong. Britain, with the largest foreign stake in China, was at that time a main target of anti-foreign sentiment, but Japan soon replaced it in this odious role.

The 1930s and World War II

During World War I, Japan presented its '21 demands' to China. In 1931, Japan occupied Manchuria and tried to detach China's northern provinces, leading to open war in 1937. Canton fell to the Japanese in 1938, resulting in a mass flight of refugees to Hong Kong. It was estimated that some 100,000 refugees entered in 1937, 500,000 in 1938 and 150,000 in 1939- bringing Hong Kong's population at the outbreak of World War II to an estimated 1.6 million. It was thought that at the height of the influx, about 500,000 people were sleeping in the streets.

Japan entered World War II on 7 December 1941, when its aircraft bombed United States warships at Pearl Harbour. At about the same time, Japanese armed forces attacked Hong Kong (8 December 1941, Hong Kong time). They invaded Hong Kong across the border from China. and pushed the British from the New Territories and Kowloon on to Hong Kong Island. After a week of stubborn resistance on the island, the defenders - including the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps – - were overwhelmed and Hong Kong surrendered on Christmas Day.

The Japanese occupation lasted for three years and eight months. Trade virtually disappeared, currency lost its value, food supplies were disrupted, and government services and public utilities were seriously impaired. Many residents moved to Macao - the neutral Portuguese enclave hospitably opening its doors to them. Towards the latter part of the occupation, the Japanese sought to ease the food problems by organising mass deportations.

In the face of increasing oppression, the bulk of the community remained loyal to the allied cause. Chinese guerrillas operated in the New Territories, and escaping allied personnel were assisted by the rural population. Soon after news of the Japanese surrender was received on 15 August 1945, a provisional government was set up by the Colonial Secretary, Mr (later Sir) Frank Gimson, who had spent the occupation imprisoned in Stanley Gaol. On 30 August, Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt arrived with units of the British Pacific Fleet to establish a temporary military government. Civil government was formally restored on 1 May 1946, when Sir Mark Young resumed his interrupted governorship.

The Post-war Years

After the Japanese surrender, Chinese civilians

many of whom had moved into the Mainland during the war returned at the rate of almost 100,000 a month. The population, which by August 1945 had been reduced to about 600,000, rose by the end of 1947 to an estimated 1.8 million. In 1948-49, as the forces of the Chinese Nationalist Government began to face defeat in civil war at the hands of the Communists, Hong Kong received an influx unparalleled in its history. Hundreds of thousands of people mainly from Kwangtung (Guangdong) Province, Shanghai and other commercial centres entered Hong Kong during 1949 and the spring of 1950. By mid-1950, the population had swelled to an estimated 2.2 million. The population has

360