Hong Kong Archives - Friends of Socialist China

Tai Po and Grenfell: A tale of two fires

In the following article, which was originally published in the South China Morning Post, and is reprinted with the kind permission of the author, Alex Lo decries the cynical response of sections of the western media and others to the terrible fire in Wang Fuk Court, Tai Po, Hong Kong, which broke out on November 26 and which claimed the lives of 160 people.

Alex writes: “As sure as night follows day, you can always count on the big Western media outlets to politicise anything bad that happens in Hong Kong or on the mainland.”

Reinforcing his point, he goes on to note: “Even as the bodies were still being recovered and identified, these Western ‘experts’ already seemed to know what had happened. Are they so all-knowing or just reprehensibly presumptuous?

“Here are some headlines: ‘Deadly Fire Highlights Hong Kong’s Predicament’ (with the standfirst, ‘The tragedy confirmed to many locals that the city’s freedoms have vanished’), ‘The killer Hong Kong fire shows how freedom is an even greater loss than you’d think’, ‘Deadly Hong Kong fire is a test of Beijing’s rule in the city’.”

To this, Alex responds:

“In handling the aftermath of such a deadly fire, there is always room for improvement, and not every demand can be met immediately.

“But the victims were immediately taken care of, including 294 of their pets rescued from the fire. The living allowance for every affected household has been doubled from HK$50,000 (US$6,410) to HK$100,000.

“HK$2.8 billion in donations have already [some 10 days after the tragedy] been raised from the government and private sources. Temporary housing is being provided. The needs of affected residents are being addressed in the short and medium term. The government has promised a long-term housing settlement, meaning each household is likely to be allocated a flat somewhere in the end.”

In contrast to the pervasive and appalling lack of mental health care provision in the UK health service, on December 5, RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong) reported that Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu called for efforts to step up mental health support for people affected by the deadly blaze, saying the whole of Hong Kong is emanating grief and sadness in the aftermath of the tragedy.

“I have requested for mental health support work to be carried out… to assist victims of the fire as well as others who were affected, including students, teachers and those living nearby,” Lee said as he inspected services offered by a government mental health support hotline and frontline staff at a community centre.

History of Hong Kong’s communist guerrillas reclaimed

The following article, originally published by China Daily, movingly describes the little known but heroic story of the guerrilla struggle waged under the leadership of the Communist Party of China against the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

Journalist Li Xiang writes: “The agonised cry, ‘If I die, avenge me!’ has echoed in Lam Chun’s mind for 82 years. It was May 1943 in Kowloon City, when Japanese soldiers dragged her 23-year-old sister, Lam Chin, into their home. The accusation was theft – a charge fabricated after she rejected a soldier’s advances. A laundry worker at the Japanese barracks, Lam Chin was subjected to a relentless beating, with rifle butts smashing against her bones.”

“That day left a deep impression on me,” Lam Chun, now 90, recalled. “It wasn’t a day for just our family’s shame, but also the nation’s suffering.”

What her tormentors didn’t know was that Lam Chin was secretly smuggling intelligence for guerrillas led by the Communist Party of China in their fight to liberate Hong Kong.

That night, as her family dressed her wounds, Lam Chin revealed her secret. A former leader in the student movement supporting the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), she had long been fighting back. Her suffering, coupled with this revelation, became a call to arms – not just for vengeance, but for victory.

“If we’re beaten for no reason at home, we might as well fight,” Lam Chun remembered her mother declaring.

Within months, Lam Chun, her mother, and her brother joined the Hong Kong Independent Battalion – her sister’s unit. Nearly 1,000 strong and composed almost entirely of locals, the battalion became a relentless foe to Japan after its December 8, 1941, invasion of Hong Kong.

The then-British colony’s defences collapsed in just 18 days – a swift defeat that historians see as emblematic of Britain’s halfhearted commitment to defending the colony.

Now, as the last survivors fade, their stories – once buried under colonial and wartime politics – have resurfaced. Their resistance played a crucial role in the broader Allied effort to defeat fascism and weaken the Japanese war machine.

“Many Hong Kong families joined the resistance together – fighting as one,” said Lam Chun, now President of the Society of the Veterans of the Original Hong Kong Independent Battalion of the Dongjiang Column, which documents this wartime heroism.

Few embodied this spirit more than the Law family of Sha Tau Kok, with nine of its 11 members taking up arms as guerrillas. Born in 1930, Law King-fai grew up amid the resistance efforts. His childhood was defined by the cause and even as a toddler he was taught patriotic songs.

“Fight the Japanese, fight the Japanese! Down with Japanese imperialism, protect our homeland!” the 95-year-old recalled, singing along.

Hong Kong is launching a series of events to educate its youth on national history and commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the war. The initiative includes exhibitions, workshops, film screenings, and exchange tours to historical sites on the Chinese mainland. “It’s not fair for those who gave their lives decades ago that today’s Hong Kong youth don’t even know the history,” Chan Hoi-lun said, citing the colonial-era authorities’ neglect of local efforts to fight Japanese aggression. Chan Hoi-lun is the daughter of Tsau Sheung-ling, who played a key role in one of the war’s boldest missions, in which over 800 Chinese cultural figures, their relatives, and soldiers of international allies were smuggled out of occupied Hong Kong.

At a recent forum, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu underscored the city’s significant role in China’s war efforts. He cited the city’s work in shipping war supplies, rescue operations, and front-line defence, embodied by brave groups like the Hong Kong Independent Battalion.

In a recent interview with China Daily, Hong Kong lawmaker Chan Yung, Vice Chair of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), said that while history education has improved significantly since the 1997 handover, more must be done to strengthen the understanding of national history, particularly amid current global tensions.

The agonized cry, “If I die, avenge me!” has echoed in Lam Chun’s mind for 82 years.

It was May 1943 in Kowloon City, when Japanese soldiers dragged her 23-year-old sister, Lam Chin, into their home. The accusation was theft — a charge fabricated after she rejected a soldier’s advances.

Britain’s century-long opium trafficking and China’s ‘Century of Humiliation’ (1839-1949)

This essay by Stansfield Smith, first published in MR Online, provides a detailed account of China’s Century of Humiliation, a crucial phenomenon to understand and one which continues to inform China’s anti-colonial politics. “For the Chinese, the trauma of the Century of Humiliation continues as a blunt reminder of their past defeat and neo-colonial servitude, as well as a reminder of the West’s self-righteous hypocrisy and arrogance.”

Stansfield describes how the British, later joined by other Western powers, used opium as a weapon to weaken China and reverse the flow of silver. In so doing, they caused untold suffering to the Indian as well as the Chinese people: “Britain taxed away 50% of the value of Indian peasants’ food crops to push them out of agriculture into growing Opium. This soon led to the Bengal famine of 1770, when ten million, a third of the Bengali population, starved to death. Britain took no action to aid them, as they did almost a century later with their orchestrated famine in Ireland.”

Once Britain defeated China in the First Opium War, the Treaty of Nanking gave Hong Kong to Britain as indemnity. Hong Kong “quickly became the center of Opium drug-dealing, soon providing the colony most of its revenue.” Such are the ignominious origins of British rule in Hong Kong.

China’s weakness was quickly leveraged by other Western powers, who imposed unequal treaties on China, and by the turn of the 20th century China was effectively a semi-colonial country. “The Eight-Nation Alliance (Japan, Russia, Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary) invaded again in 1900 to crush the nationalist Boxer Rebellion. An indemnity of 20,000 tons of silver was extracted, and China reduced to a neo-colony.”

Stansfield observes that “the blight of Opium on China was not resolved until the revolutionary victory in 1949.” Socialism has made China strong, and the Chinese people are determined to never again be humiliated by foreign powers. The article concludes:

The West now views China as a renewed threat, again seeking to economically disable it and chop it into pieces. However, this time, the Chinese people are much better prepared to combat imperialist designs to impose a new era of humiliation on them.

Stansfield Smith is an anti-war activist focused mostly on combating US intervention in Latin America. He is an activist with Chicago ALBA Solidarity.

For the Chinese, the trauma of the Century of Humiliation continues as a blunt reminder of their past defeat and neo-colonial servitude, as well as a reminder of the West’s self-righteous hypocrisy and arrogance.

In 1500, India and China were the world’s most advanced civilizations. Then came the Europeans. They eventually looted and wreaked havoc on both, just as they were to on the Americas and Africa. For India and China, Britain was the chief culprit, relying on state-sponsored drug-running backed by industrialized military power. The British Empire was the world’s largest producer and exporter of Opium—the main product of global trade after the gradual decline of the slave trade from Africa. Their “civilization” brought the Century of Humiliation to China, which only ended with the popular revolution led by Mao Zedong. This historic trauma and the struggle to overcome it and re-establish their country is etched in the minds of the Chinese today.

Before the British brought their “culture,” 25% of the world trade originated in India. By the time they left it was less than 1%. British India’s Opium dealing was for the large part of the 19th Century the second-most important source of revenue for colonial India. Their “Opium industry was one of the largest enterprises on the subcontinent, producing a few thousand tons of the drug every year—a similar output to Afghanistan’s notorious Opium industry [during the U.S. occupation], which supplies the global market for heroin.” Opium accounted for about 17-20% of British India revenues.

In the early 1700s, China produced 35% of the world GDP. Until 1800 half the books in the world were printed in Chinese. The country considered itself self-sufficient, not seeking any products from other countries. Foreign countries bought Chinese tea, silk, and porcelain, having to pay in gold and silver. Consequently, the balance of trade was unfavorable to the British for almost two centuries, like the situation the U.S. and Europe face with China today.

This trade slowly depleted Western reserves. Eventually, 30,865 tons of silver flowed into China, mostly from Britain. Britain turned to state sponsored drug smuggling as a solution, and by 1826 the smuggling from India had reversed the flow of silver. Thus began one of the longest and continuous international crimes of modern times, second to the African slave trade, under the supervision of the British crown.

(The just formed United States was already smuggling Opium into China by 1784. The U.S. first multi-millionaire John Jacob Astor grew rich dealing Opium to China, as did FDR’s grandfather, Warren Delano, Jr.)

The British East India Company was key to this Opium smuggling. Soon after Britain conquered Bengal in 1757, George III granted the East India Company a monopoly on producing and exporting Indian Opium. Eventually its Opium Agency employed some 2500 clerks working in 100 offices around India.

Britain taxed away 50% of the value of Indian peasants’ food crops to push them out of agriculture into growing Opium. This soon led to the Bengal famine of 1770, when ten million, a third of the Bengali population, starved to death. Britain took no action to aid them, as they did almost a century later with their orchestrated famine in Ireland. Another famine hit India in 1783, and again Britain did nothing as 11 million starved. Between 1760-1943,

As per British sources, more than 85 million Indians died in these famines which were in reality genocides done by the British Raj.

At its peak in the mid-19th century, the British state-sponsored export of Opium accounted for roughly 15% of total colonial revenue in India and 31% of India’s exports. The massive revenues from this drug money solidified India as a substantial financial base for England’s later world conquests.

Chinese ‘imperialism’ in Hong Kong concerns US Media; Puerto Rican, Palestinian colonies, not so much

We’re pleased to republish this article from 2020 by Joshua Cho, originally published in FAIR, about the startling hypocrisy in the media coverage of Hong Kong, particularly when compared to the coverage of Puerto Rico and Palestine. There was a storm of articles about the national security law in Hong Kong, with numerous Western media outlets describing it as an example of “colonialism” – ignoring the rather important fact that Hong Kong is part of China. Meanwhile, these same media outlets participate in a conspiracy of silence around the very real colonialism of the US against the people of Puerto Rico and the Israeli state against the Palestinians.

The article has lost none of its relevance in the period since its original publication.

When China passed a national security law for Hong Kong on June 30, criminalizing terrorism, secession and subversion of the Chinese government, as well as collusion with foreign governments, massive condemnations resounded all over Western media.

Vox (5/21/20) described it as an “official death sentence” for the “one country, two systems” model of governance in Hong Kong. Business Insider’s headline (7/1/20) described China’s national security law as having “killed Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement in less than a year.” The Washington Post (7/3/20) ran an op-ed mocking China’s actions as “nothing less than imperialism with Chinese characteristics.” The Atlantic (7/1/20) described Hong Kong as a “colony once more,” equating the Chinese government with previous British and Japanese “overlords in a distant capital” making “decisions on Hong Kong’s behalf.”

Of course, while Western media describe the national security law as something China “imposed” on Hong Kong, these same outlets rarely if ever present the “one country, two systems” model of governance in Hong Kong as something that was imposed on China by British imperialism, when London refused to unconditionally return the former colony to China. Hong Kong was violently seized from China with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, after the British waged a war to impose the opium trade on China, causing about 90 million Chinese people to develop an addiction by the end of the 19th century.

Hong Kong: the truth is out

On his first visit back to Hong Kong since 2019, long-term East Asian resident, and Friends of Socialist China Advisory Group member, Kenny Coyle writes that he found a city becalmed. “Rarely”, he observes, “has Western mainstream propaganda so successfully shrouded the truth about a city and society as open as Hong Kong.”

Kenny clarifies the meaning behind China’s insistence that Hong Kong was never a British colony, but rather a Chinese territory under illegal British occupation. His article, which also features an interview with Nixie Lam, a Legislative Council member from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), the territory’s largest and most influential patriotic political party, is full of useful information. It was originally published in the Morning Star and we are pleased to reprint it here.

Hong Kong marked the 25th anniversary of its return to Chinese sovereignty with Chinese president Xi Jinping appearing in the city to witness the inauguration of the Chinese territory’s new leadership headed by John Lee.

The largely indoor ceremony had been forecast to take place amid a mild tropical typhoon, but for the past three years Hong Kong has been battered by quite different kinds of storms.

Xi’s visit takes place after an unprecedented period of turmoil. The first stage beginning in 2019 was characterised by a wave of initially peaceful mass protests against extradition legislation, which rapidly spiralled into violent anti-China protests.

The second stage by the ongoing battle to control the Covid pandemic in the city.

Hong Kong elections deal a blow to US imperialism

We’re pleased to republish this interesting article by Christopher Helali, international secretary of the Party of Communists USA, about the recent Legislative Council elections in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Helali observes that these elections constitute a step forward for the people of Hong Kong in combatting attempts by the imperialist powers to interfere and destabilize. The article was first published in CGTN.

On December 19, citizens in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will vote for the seventh-term Legislative Council (LegCo) election. This is a major step in bringing order, stability and peace to Hong Kong following a tumultuous period that saw riots and protests rock the city.

The HKSAR suffered tremendously during the violence and chaos of the past few years. The political system was destabilized by street violence, social unrest, disorder and political instability. This not only harmed the residents but also businesses and investments in the city.

Lee Camp interviews Li Jingjing on Western misconceptions about China

Comedian and activist Lee Camp interviewed CGTN journalist and vlogger Li Jingjing on his program Redacted Tonight about common Western misconceptions about China. Highlighted in the interview is the importance of Chinese voices in countering the propaganda war and how these voices have been silenced and ignored by Western media.

Hong Kong: From Royal Colony to Color Revolution

In this China Is Not Our Enemy webinar, hosted by CODEPINK and Massachusetts Peace Action, Madison Tang interviews Julie Tang (co-founder of Pivot to Peace and Hong Kong native) and Michael Wong (Vice President of Veterans for Peace San Francisco) about the context and consequences of British and US interference in Hong Kong.

Rania Khalek interviews Daniel Dumbrill on Xinjiang, Hong Kong, poverty alleviation and the New Cold War

This excellent interview appeared on BreakThrough News on 30 August 2021. Rania and Daniel cover some crucial topics related to the propaganda war against China.

Note that Daniel Dumbrill is among the speakers at our webinar on 9 October – The Propaganda War Against China – along with Chen Weihua, Li Jingjing, Ben Norton, Danny Haiphong, Jenny Clegg, Michael Wong, Radhika Desai and Kenny Coyle.