By:HISTORY.com Editors
Japan invades Hong Kong
Japanese troops land in Hong Kong on December 18, 1941, and slaughter ensues.
A week of air raids over Hong Kong, aBritish crown colony, was followed up on December 17 with a visit paid by Japanese envoys to Sir Mark Young, the British governor of Hong Kong. The envoys’ message was simple: The British garrison there should simply surrender to the Japanese—resistance was futile. The envoys were sent home with the following retort: “The governor and commander in chief of Hong Kong declines absolutely to enter into negotiations for the surrender of Hong Kong…”
The first wave of Japanese troops landed in Hong Kong with artillery fire for cover and the following order from their commander: “Take no prisoners.” Upon overrunning a volunteer antiaircraft battery, the Japanese invaders roped together the captured soldiers and proceeded to bayonet them to death. Even those who offered no resistance, such as the Royal Medical Corps, were led up a hill and killed.
The Japanese quickly took control of key reservoirs, threatening the British and Chinese inhabitants with a slow death by thirst. The Brits finally surrendered control of Hong Kong onChristmas Day.
TheWar Powers Act was passed by Congress on the same day, authorizing the president to initiate and terminate defense contracts, reconfigure government agencies for wartime priorities, and regulate the freezing of foreign assets. It also permitted him to censor all communications coming in and leaving the country.
FDR appointed the executive news director of the Associated Press, Byron Price, as director of censorship. Although invested with the awesome power to restrict and withhold news, Price took no extreme measures, allowing news outlets and radio stations to self-censor, which they did. Most top secret information, including the construction of the atom bomb, remained just that.
The most extreme use of the censorship law seems to have been the restriction of the free flow of “girlie” magazines to servicemen—includingEsquire, which the Post Office considered obscene for its occasional saucy cartoons and pinups.Esquire took the Post Office to court, and after three years theSupreme Court ultimately sided with the magazine.
How Hong Kong Came Under ‘One Country, Two Systems’ Rule
The arrangement began in 1997 as part of a gradual return of the territory to China from British colonial rule.
The arrangement began in 1997 as part of a gradual return of the territory to China from British colonial rule.
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Citation Information
- Article Title
- Japan invades Hong Kong
- Author
- HISTORY.com Editors
- Website Name
- History
- Date Accessed
- February 12, 2026
- Publisher
- A&E Television Networks
- Last Updated
- January 31, 2025
- Original Published Date
- November 16, 2009
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