1967 Hong Kong riots

The 1967 Hong Kong riots were large-scale anti-government riots that occurred in Hong Kong during British colonial rule. Beginning as a minor labour dispute, the demonstrations eventually escalated into protests against the British colonial government. The protests were also partially inspired by riots that had occurred just a few months prior in Portuguese Macau, known as the 12-3 incident, which were ultimately much more successful on the side of the protesters.

The use of roadside bombs and petrol bombs by protesters prompted the Hong Kong Police Force to raid the demonstrators' strongholds and arrest their leaders. Several demonstrators, as well as a few police officers, were killed in the subsequent violence. As many of the bombs were made in communist-leaning schools, then governor David Trench decided to close those schools and banned communist publications in the colony.

The protests occurred in the backdrop of the Cultural Revolution taking place in mainland China (i.e. People's Republic of China or PRC), with many of the protesters harbouring leftist views and sympathies towards the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was the first series of riots since the 1956 and 1966 Hong Kong riots. After the riots, the British Hong Kong government publicly reflected on its failure to address certain social grievances and carried out major social reforms. However, another riot would occur in 1981.

Tensions

The initial demonstrations and riots were labour disputes that began as early as May 1967 in shipping, taxi, textile, cement companies and in particular the Hong Kong Artificial Flower Works, where there were 174 pro-CCP trade unionists. The unions that took up the cause were all members of the Hong Kong and Kowloon Federation of Trade Unions, a labour group with strong ties to Beijing.

The political climate was tense in Hong Kong in the spring of 1967. Across the colony's northern border was a tumultuous PRC, with Red Guards carrying out purges and engaging in infighting. To the west of Hong Kong, in the Portuguese colony of Macau, two months of violent clashes between colonial police and pro-CCP demonstrators had just ended. Order was not restored to Macau despite the intervention of the Portuguese army, and a general strike in January 1967 pressured the Portuguese government into agreeing to many of the demonstrators' demands, placing the colony under the ''de facto'' control of the PRC.''Portugal, China and the Macau Negotiations, 1986–1999''
Carmen Amado Mendes, Hong Kong University Press, 2013, page 34 The tension in Hong Kong was heightened by the ongoing Cultural Revolution to the north. Up to 31 protests were held.

Outbreak of violence

In May, a labour dispute broke out in a factory producing artificial flowers in San Po Kong.

Picketing workers clashed with management, and riot police were called in on 6 May. In violent clashes between the police and the picketing workers, 21 workers were arrested; many more were injured. Representatives from the union protested at police stations, but were themselves also arrested.

The next day, large-scale demonstrations erupted on the streets of Hong Kong. Many of the pro-CCP demonstrators carried '' Little Red Books'' in their left hands and shouted communist slogans. The Hong Kong Police Force engaged with the demonstrators and arrested another 127 people.Gary Ka-wai Cheung
''Hong Kong's Watershed: The 1967 Riots''
Hong Kong University Press, 2009,