A successful transnational cold war intervention?: revisiting the Heung Yee Kuk’s “goodwill” tour of Britain’s Chinatowns, 1967–1970

Abstract

ABSTRACT Most ethnic Chinese living and working in Britain in the late 1960s were from Hong Kong’s New Territories. Many of these British migrants blamed the Hong Kong government for importing cheap foodstuffs and driving farmers off the land to build new infrastructural projects. In 1967, Hong Kong experienced a wave of social and political unrest commonly referred to as the 1967 Leftist Riots. The unrest spread to parts of Britain’s Chinatown, where a leftist movement emerged in sympathy with the anti-colonial rioters. In response, the Heung Yee Kuk, a legal advisory organisation that represented established interests in the New Territories, proposed to send a ‘goodwill tour’ to Britain’s Chinatowns to demonstrate that the Hong Kong government was committed to their welfare. The unlikely alliance proved politically expedient as both had good reason to foster the political loyalty of Britain’s migrant Chinese. In particular, both parties understood the economic necessity of quieting the unrest to ensure the continued flow of remittance back to the colony. The detailed report of migrant Chinese grievances with the British and Hong Kong governments produced by the Heung Yee Kuk delegates led to welfare reforms for the Chinese communities of Hong Kong and Britain.