Ex-US diplomat recounts how deadly 1967 Hong Kong unrest became full-blown riot after pro-Beijing figures stepped in
Syd Goldsmith says the trouble caught officials by surprise and recalls being besieged by angry protesters in the streets
The former US diplomat responsible for feeding Washington information on the deadly 1967 riots in Hong Kong has offered a rare insight into the unrest, describing how a regular labour dispute gradually escalated into a full-blown riot after pro-Beijing figures stepped in.
Looking back at the upheaval in a talk on Thursday, Syd Goldsmith said he had not expected the dispute to turn into one of the deadliest chapters in the city’s history.
“We just didn’t think anything beyond a normal periodic labour dispute would ever happen,” said Goldsmith, a political officer at the United States consulate at the time.
The riots were considered a spillover from the Cultural Revolution, a tumultuous social and political movement which began on the mainland a year earlier. The immediate trigger was a labour dispute in April 1967 at an artificial flower factory in San Po Kong.
