Agitators Upset Hong Kong

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31407, 28 June 1967, Page 17

Agitators Upset Hong Kong

(N.Z.P.A. -Reuter— Copyright) HONG KONG, June 27. Hong Kong’s Leftists now seem to have adopted guerrilla tactics to harass police.

They do their fighting against policemen in small groups, and where and when it pleases them —unlike last month's clashes with riot police which inevitably followed mass demonstrations. For the last few days, there have been reports of skirmishes in various places in the colony. Yesterday a group of men ganged up on a police constable who had asked two leftwing newspaper vendors not to cause obstruction at a crowded ferry pier. A detective who came to his aid shot and wounded one of the attackers.

Last Saturday in the border village of Shataukok, a group of agitators attacked a police

patrol and set fire to their Land Rover.

Tear-gas shells were fired to disperse them and China later alleged that the shells landed on the Chinese side of the border and injured 30 people. On the previous day. a small band of men mobbed several policemen taking photographs of intimidating posters outside a Left-wing office in Kowloon peninsula.

One of the attackers was shot and killed in the melee and the rest were “smoked out” of a building.

The Hong Kong Government today announced severe water restrictions as China remained silent on the colony’s request for additional supplies. China stopped pumping water into the colony’s reservoirs on Sunday, apparently ignoring the Hong Kong Government’s request for another 2000 million gallons up to the end of July. From next Thursday, the supply of water in the colony will be restricted to four fcnirs every alternate day. the beginning of this month water has been restricted to eight hours daily. Under its agreement with China, Hong Kong draws a minimum of 15,000 million gallons of water from the East river in China’s Kwantung province between October 1 and June 30 each year. By last Sunday China had pumped this minimum plus an additional requested 1800 million gallons through the pipelines, but since then it has not acted on Hong Kong s request to extend the supply period and provide another 2000 million gallons up to the end of July. China has not formally rejected Hong Kong’s request for more water, but the lack of any answer and the now dry pipelines hold out little hope that China will start pumping again before October i—the start of the new supply period.