Hong Kong's Watershed: The 1967 Riots

11: Recollections and reflections by key players in the disturbances

11 Recollections and reflections by key players in the disturbances Jack Cater: The man in charge of putting down the riots Cater was at times deep in thought when he recollected the disturbances in 1967, one of the most painful chapters in Hong Kong’s recent history. During the 1967 riots, Cater was then personal assistant to the governor and deputy colonial secretary (special duties). After Governor David Trench went on leave to England for health reasons at the end of June in 1967, Cater was one of the top government officials who directly handled the riots. In an interview with the author in April 1999, Cater insisted that the actions taken by the Hong Kong government during the upheaval were correct and necessary to maintain order in the city. However, he admitted that there existed some individual cases of abuse of power by the police force. During the interview, which might be one of the last interviews he offered before he died in April 2006, the ageing former official often relied on pieces of paper he prepared the night before the interview to recall his memories of the mayhem wrought by the leftist camp more than three decades ago. Since early May 1967, the leaders of the leftist camp in Hong Kong mobilized their supporters to protest outside the Government House. At the beginning, the government was tolerant of the protest and exercised restraint towards the leftists, Cater said. “We saw it a sensible thing to allow people from the communist side to march up to Government House and go down peacefully. If that was what they want to do, we would accept that. Governor David Trench thought it was a good idea,” he said. Cater revealed that there was a tacit understanding between the colonial administration and the leftist camp on conditional tolerance of the protests. He said that he had met some leaders of the leftist camp before the demonstrations took place. “We have been assured that they would go down the hill quietly without causing any trouble,” he said. “That was what we expected.” Cheung_11_ch11.indd 143 19/04/2011 4:20 PM 144 Hong Kong’s Watershed Asked whether he met the leaders of the leftist camp during the disturbances, he said: “Of course. I discussed with them. I knew such persons as Fei Yiming, publisher of pro-Beijing Ta Kung Pao, well before the confrontation happened. We were being told by the local communist leadership that ‘allow us to do this and we promise there will be no trouble’. If that’s the sort of things you want to do, it’s okay. Do it in an orderly manner. But we won’t allow you to hit, kill or throwing stones on the streets.” In the first few days, the demonstrators managed to maintain reasonably good order. Their actions were largely confined to sticking “big-character posters” and reciting Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung outside the gate of the Government House. “We even allowed them to shake the gate and leave the protest letter outside. The leaders and big names of the leftist camp were allowed to go up [to the Government House] in four big Mercedez Benz limousines. We also ordered the police to exercise self-restraint,” he said. The government provided police officers with perspex goggles to protect their eyes after learning that some demonstrators poked fingers at the policemen on duty, Cater recalled. Cater still remembered that there was a Mr Ng, whose full name he had forgotten, using a loudspeaker to broadcast anti-British slogans on the fifth floor of the old Bank of China building in Central. Ng also made verbal assaults on government officials like Cater and Anthony Elliott, the political adviser to the governor at the time. “Whenever Anthony Elliott and I walked through Statue Square, Ng would be cursing and shouting ‘Kill those British!’ ” In order to drown Ng out, the government started playing loud Chinese music from the rooftop of the Supreme Court (currently home to the Legislative Council). “In a way quite funny, they always gave in and closed down daily broadcasting at 5.30 p.m. every evening,” Cater said. Cater said that after a few days, the leftist camp began to stir up troubles by taking schoolchildren to the streets. He guessed that Beijing suddenly issued an instruction to the communist organizations here urging them to step up their activities. On May 22, the protests eventually turned into riots. The students...