Anarchism in Hong Kong emerged as part of theChinese anarchist movement, when many anarchists sought refuge from the Qing Empire in the territory. It grew alongside the Chinese revolutionary movement, before the territory again became a safe haven for anarchists, following the Communist victory in theChinese Civil War. Since then anarchists have formed a part of the Hong Kong opposition movement, first to British colonial rule and then to the rising authoritarianism of theGovernment of Hong Kong.
In 1841,Hong Kong wasoccupied by theBritish Empire, which made it into acrown colony. Hong Kong Island was officiallyceded by theQing Empire and the British-held territory was subsequently extended by theFirst andSecond Conventions of Peking. Strikes against the British colonial administration broke out not long after the occupation started and continued throughout the 19th century, with many workers in Hong Kong ceasing their labour and returning to China in protest.[1] Hong Kong also became a stronghold of revolutionary ideas among the Chinese population, now outside of the Qing dominion, where a group of students known as the "Four Bandits" (Yeung Hok-ling,Sun Yat-sen,Chan Siu-bak andYau Lit) openly discussed the overthrow of the Qing dynasty.[2][3] The Bandits, alongside the Chinese anarchistZhang Renjie, were among the founding members of theTongmenghui in 1905. Zhang went on to join the Hong Kong branch in 1907, after ensuring the removal of any mention of "heaven" from the organization's oath of allegiance.[4]
Liu Shifu had also moved to Hong Kong in 1906, where he became editor of a local journal. However, after a failed assassination attempt against military commanderLi Chun, Liu was imprisoned for three years, only being released because his literature had impressed the local authorities. He returned to Hong Kong in 1909, where he andChen Jiongming founded theChinese Assassination Corps, an anarchist militant group dedicated topropaganda of the deed. With the outbreak of the1911 revolution, Shifu returned to China, where the assassination corps continued their activities.[5]
Chen Jiongming became instrumental in the organisation of thelabour movement throughSouth China, securing workers with the right tocollective bargaining. During the Hong KongSeamen's strike of 1922, despite the attempts of the British colonial authorities to suppress it, Chen helped to settle the strike,[6] with employers capitulating to the demands of wage increases.[7] After Chen's defeat in theYunnan–Guangxi War, he fled to Hong Kong, where he continued to advocate for the unification of China from the bottom-up. Here he founded theZhi Gong Party, which championedfederalism in China and the establishment of amulti-party system, criticizing thesingle-party system of theKuomintang.[8]
After the outbreak of theMay Thirtieth Movement, theCanton–Hong Kong strike took place, in which Chinese protestors called for a boycott of British Hong Kong and ageneral strike against the British colonial authorities.[9][10] Around 250,000 Chinese people left the colony for Guangdong,[9] causing the paralysis of Hong Kong's economy.[10] During the strike, Zhang Renjie succeeded the recently deceased Sun Yat-sen asChairman of the Kuomintang, bringing a distinctly anarchist leadership to the party alongsideLi Shizeng,Wu Zhihui andCai Yuanpei. However,Chiang Kai-shek began to rise to power within the Kuomintang and deposed the "Four Elders", marking a shift to theright-wing inside the party. Chiang initiated theShanghai massacre, during which thousands of leftists were killed, beginning theChinese Civil War.[11]
After theJapanese invasion of Manchuria, Chen Jiongming and the Zhi Gong Party criticized Chiang Kai-shek'snationalist government for its refusal to confront theEmpire of Japan and organized a boycott of Japanese products in Hong Kong. However, after Chen's death and theJapanese occupation of Hong Kong, the party was nearly wiped out and began to turn towardsMarxism-Leninism after the end ofWorld War II.
Following the end of the Chinese Civil War and theproclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, many anarchists fled to Hong Kong. Despiteescalating violence between nationalists and communists in Hong Kong, the colony soon became a safe haven for people fleeing from the repression of thePeople's Republic of China, with about 60,000 refugees moving to the island during theGreat Leap Forward.[12]
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In 1969, Hong Kong's student movement began to become disillusioned with theChinese Communist Party due to the events of theCultural Revolution and the1967 Hong Kong riots, with many students atChu Hai College being attracted to anarchist andTrotskyist tendencies.[13] From this movement and1970s Hong Kong student protests, a libertarian socialist organization, the 70s Front, emerged. It agitated both against the British colonial administration and the Chinese Communist Party, publishing theChinese language70s Bi-weekly and theEnglish languageMinus magazines.[14][15] However, ideological conflicts between the Trotskyists and anarchists led to a split in the organization,[16] with many Trotskyists leaving to form theRevolutionary Marxist League.[13] This led to the group's dissolution in the early 1980s.
The rise ofDeng Xiaoping to power in China brought about a wave ofeconomic liberalisation known as "socialism with Chinese characteristics". The new regime signed adeclaration that secured thehandover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China. The Hong Kong left-wing was subsequently split between thepro-democracy andpro-Beijing camps. Anarchist collectives, such as Autonomous 8A, began to form part of the broad opposition movement.[17] Anarchists have since participated in a number of actions against risingauthoritarianism in Hong Kong, includingOccupy Central, theUmbrella Revolution[18] andAnti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement.[19]
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