Move aims to kill off censorship claims sparked by controversial removal of ‘sensitive’ words and passages last year
CRISTY.LEUNG@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 09 January, 2016, 3:13pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 09 January, 2016, 3:56pm
A man is taken into custody by police during the 1967 riots that tore through Hong Kong. A newly revised account of this turbulent period was added to the Hong Kong Police Force website late Friday night after the original courted controversy. Photo: SCMP Pictures
A newly revised Hong Kong police account of one of the most violent periods in Hong Kong history - the 1967 riots - which the force hopes will kill off accusations of pro-Beijing political correctness has been released after months of work .
The new version, released late Friday night, comes after police chiefs were forced to remove an original account from their official website amid a storm of criticism.
Instead of posting the original version on its website, the force inserted a hyperlink to a 10-page PDF file late yesterday night under the section called Modern Era 1945-1967.
The newly released account continues to use the word ‘’gunmen’’ instead of the expunged “communist militia’’ in a passage describing gunfire from the Chinese side of the border at Shau Tau Kok, and leaves the identity of those involved open to interpretation.
The revised passage states: “The true identity of the gunmen could not be established and there were different versions of them ranging from - communist militia, Chinese militia, villagers in the border area, villagers in the immediate vicinity, or unknown gunmen in the Mainland.’’
The original controversy followed the removal of words and descriptive passages sparking criticism that it was an attempt to paint a less critical picture of communist and leftist activity at the time.
The force also updated for its first time the number of injures that resulted from the deadly riots. It said that 51 people, including 10 police officers, were killed, and 832 people were injured.
It also rolls back on the original account’s assertion that bombs were made in ‘’classrooms of left wing schools and bombs were planted indiscriminately on the streets’’, inserting doubt by stating, “there were reports that bombs were made in classrooms of left-wing schools and planted indiscriminately on the streets.”
An passage removed from the original account which read, “demonstrators ... waving aloft the Little Red Book and shouting slogans¨ is reinstated but is presented alongside a description depicting the overall mood as ‘’not chaotic in the first few days’’ and of ‘’reasonably good order¨.
A police spokesman said the force conducted a full review of the Police History webpage and the updated content had been enriched with additional text, photographs and references.
A new chapter on “Police Training Institutions” is added in the new version and sections about women in the force and marine policing, are enhanced.
Last month the South China Morning Post revealed the force would reinstate the controversial missing details and that new material would be added.
The row began last September when revisions were made to the official account of 1967 riots, during which pro-Beijing radicals inspired by the Cultural Revolution sought to overthrow the British colonial government.
Detailed descriptions of events such as leftist mobs threatening bus and tram drivers who refused to strike, were removed.
The amendments sparked an uproar. The force was also condemned by the London-based Royal Hong Kong Police Association and retired police officers who took part in the deadly riots.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1899601/hong-kong-police-revise-controversial-account-communist
