Tragically, freedom and the good life were still beyond the reach of most who tried so hard to escape. Alarmed by the mass influx, Hongkong authorities rounded up as many refugees as they could catch, fed them a meal or two and trucked them back to the border. Only about a seventh of those crossing the frontier were able to evade police lines and reach friends or relatives in the British crown colony.
It was the largest scale attempt to flee Chinese Communism in recent years. Previously the flow had been constant but not overwhelming. It began with Communist occupation of the mainland in 1949. During more than 12 years, Hongkong absorbed approximately a million refugees fleeing the nearby provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, Fukien and even the cities of northern China. Others reached Macao, although that Portuguese colony was more of a way station to Hongkong than a place of settlement.
(Top)Husband, left, massages wife's temples after she fainted. Friend, center, sobs pathetically at prospect of deportation. (Bottom left) Abject young refugees are herded into detention by Ghurka soldier. (Bottom right) Youngsters get their fill of rice provided by sympathetic villagers. (File photo)
Hongkong was generous to illegal immigrants. Most were allowed to stay. Huge apartment-type resettlement buildings were erected to house them and Hongkong's own needy. Medical care, education and various welfare programs were provided. In a decade, the population of small Hongkong (total area: 391 square miles) grew from about two million to almost three and a half million.
Hongkong decided to shut its doors April 4, when it deported six young people who had come from Kwangtung on a leaking junk. The two girls and four boys aged 14 to 19 had set sail March 25. After four days and nights of fighting storms and high seas, the junk capsized. A fishing boat found the six drifting on a plank and took them to the New Territories area of Hongkong.
As the six rejoiced at the home of an uncle, Hongkong police arrested them. They were sent back to the Communist-held mainland without other proceedings. Protests poured in from all over the Free World.
This was only the beginning of a tragic game between the Hongkong police and Communist border guards. Tens of thousands more "human balls", as Hongkong newspapers described the refugees, were to be kicked back and forth across the border.
Hungry Thousands
By May 1, the frontier was swarming with thousands of hungry refugees. They waited in forests and atop hills, patiently seeking a chance to break through the police lines and reach Hongkong. Rounded up and trucked back, many returned for another try. Some of them were reported to have been back and forth across the border as many as seven times.
With May half gone, 8,000 to 10,000 refugees were arriving at the border daily. Hongkong police and British troops erected barbed-wire fences, mobilized helicopters and police dogs, and rounded up every refugee they could lay hands on.
Communist guards made no move to stop the outflow nor to block return of the escapees.
Refugees were identified as coming from as far away as the region north of Canton and east of Swatow, the part of Kwangtung province reportedly hardest hit by famine. Most of them were able-bodied persons aged between 18 and 30. They reported that dead and starving companions who were not strong enough for the long trek littered escape trails in the hills.
Close to starvation and exhausted, those who reached the border hid in the hills until their numbers swelled to around 1,000. Then they would scramble through the barbed-wire entanglements or work their way under the mesh of the border fence. Heavy rains and lack of food brought sickness and drove large numbers of them to the foot of the hills. There they were hunted down and herded into detention camps by British soldiers. Once in the camp, they were given a good meal, medical care, if necessary, and then deported. To the rule of deportation, there were no exceptions.
Some Give Up
Eyewitnesses reported old women and children among those who waited in the hills for a chance at freedom and something to eat. Some were said to have waited for a week or longer, only to give up because of fear they would be caught.
Few refugees carried enough food. Many would have starved without help from local inhabitants. Hongkong colony villagers brought big buckets of cooked rice and porridge to their hungry countrymen. They threw loaves of bread and medicines into the lorries returning refugees to the border. Free Chinese wrapped biscuits, cigarettes, fruit and medicines in plastic bags and left them along the fences for refugees to retrieve during the night. Even water was provided.
Many Hongkong residents received mail or oral messages conveyed by villagers or newspaper reporters that relatives had reached the border and were waiting to make contacts. These sent them off on expeditions, food and clothing in hand, to search for loved ones. Their cries of relatives' names echoed across hills and valleys. But sheer luck was required to find kinfolk among the swarming thousands.
Finds Wife, Son
Yip Yat-ying, a metal worker who left his home in Kwangtung several years ago to work in Hongkong, received word from his wife, Li Yep-shen, that she was coming to Hongkong with their son Chin-hsien and daughter Chin-yin. Yip went to live with a friend in the New Territories, and for several days roved the border area day and night, calling his wife's name.
On the fourth day, Yip found his wife and son hiding in the woods. The daughter had become lost in the crowd of refugees two days before. Carrying the exhausted boy on his back, Yip started to lead his wife to Hongkong. Two British soldiers caught them. All three wept and pleaded to be allowed to stay together. But Yip had to take wife and son to a detention camp where hundreds of others were waiting to be sent back.
Father finds wife, son, but they are sent back. (File photo)
Diu Wah, 62, and his son Diu Koon-soong, 25, made it through the police lines but were caught on the bus to Kowloon when they failed to produce identification papers at the New Territories checkpoint. The son was disguised as a local teenager, dressed in a new sports shirt and tight trousers.
Father and son wept. "It is most distressing .... we have nothing to eat," the father said.
Diu Koon-soong said his mother had gone to Hongkong more than 10 years ago and was living in Shaukiwan.
"We arrived at Shataukok after walking for six days without food," he said. They had sent word to relatives, who brought them the new clothes. They were allowed to buy fruit and other foodstuffs to take back.
Mother Too Late
Lin Ping-hsien, 21, and his brother Lin Ki 26, walked for seven days to reach the frontier. In his excitement, Ping-hsien slipped and began to tumble down a steep hillside. Lin Ki tried to catch him but was also dragged down. The two fell more than 50 feet. Both were seriously hurt and sent to the Kowloon Hospital for treatment. While there they sent word to their 62-year-old mother in Hongkong. Receiving the message two days later, the mother immediately left for the hospital, arriving at 2 a.m. She was greeted by two empty beds. Her sons already had been trucked back to the border. The old woman collapsed.
Wong Sei-chai's story, as related to a Hongkong Tiger Standard reporter, is typical of those told by refugees reaching Hongkong after days of hardship only to find door to freedom cruelly locked:
"Hunger made me think of fleeing from my native village of Sheung Ha Heung in northern Kwangtung .... We applied to the Communist authorities for permits to visit Hongkong but were turned down .... So I decided to flee with my elder sister who wanted to reunite with her husband in Hongkong.
"I met several young members of the commune who also decided to leave their village and a refugee party was formed. After a large meal, I and my sister began the long journey to Hongkong at midnight with a party of 30.
"As we traveled eastwards, some of the members became lost. We hid ourselves during the day and started off again in the night. When we reached the frontier, the party was reduced to four men and five women.
"The river was too deep to wade across. We set off to the upper stream, but were frightened when we saw three bodies floating down the river.
Girl cries out her sorrow because she must return to Communist soil. (File photo)
"We were told by other refugees that there were mountain routes to the east near Shataukok and we decided to take one the next night .... We crawled most of the way to avoid searchlights on both sides of the frontier. Eventually we passed the frontier fence without being detected.
No Food for Days
"I was tired and exhausted because I hadn't eaten for days except for a few mouthfuls of fried rice, and I collapsed. One of my companions produced a sweet-potato cake which saved my life.
"Near daybreak, we saw some lights and wondered if we already had reached the New Territories. As we were going to hide ourselves, the cry of a boy in our party for his mother nearby alerted the police and we, with 30 others, were captured.
"In the police camp when we were told of being sent back, we burst into tears but our plight could not change the minds of the police."
According to most refugees, chronic hunger and fear of starvation in the months just ahead were the principal motives behind the massive flight.
A 19-year-old girl, Lee Ying, threw herself to the ground after being caught, and sobbed over and again, "There's nothing to eat, there's nothing to eat."
Severe Famine
"My native place, Shun Hui village in Kwangtung, is suffering from severe famine," said Liu Kam-yuen, 32. "Farmers are issued 15 catties (around 16.5 pounds) of unhusked rice a month for the whole family. We were so hungry that we stole sweet potatoes from our neighbor's fields."
Liu reported that many young people from Canton, formerly factory workers, were sent to farms to seek expanded production. "That's why you see so many of them trying to enter Hongkong," he said, "because their rations of rice were cut once they became farmers."
Teng Kin-shi, who hit the refugee trail with seven brothers and sisters only to be caught by soldiers, said: "Beginning this spring, everyone in my commune of Hui Yang received a monthly ration of six catties of rice. Hungry farmers had to eat leaves, grass roots and rodents. Everyone is thin and weak.
"Crops this year again turned out to be a complete failure as a result of drought, flood and lack of fertilizers. Farmers even used clay and straw as fertilizer, but that was of little help.
"What else was left for us except to leave that place of hunger?"
Thirty-five-year-old Li Kin-lin threw himself on the ground when he was caught. "I am not going back. I want to die in Hongkong." he cried. "They have taken my ration ticket, and now I can't get even the six catties of rice if I go back. I'll do anything to stay here. Have mercy on me!"
The Communists themselves admit that starvation stalks the mainland. According to news broadcasts by Peiping radio and reports from the New China News Agency, many parts of the mainland have been struck by "serious natural calamities."
Daring leap to freedom on way back to border. (File photo)
"During last spring," reported Peiping People's Daily News, "the area of paddy fields in Kwangtung province stricken by drought and freezing weather reached four million acres. In Szechuan province, desperate farmers have taken all measures to fight against drought. In Kiangsu and Hupeh, crops failed for lack of food, seeds, capital, fuel, draft animals, farming implements and water. The famine is most serious in Shantung. In several counties in that province, whole villages were evacuated as the hungry inhabitants left in search of food."
Some western observers held that Communist relaxation of border vigilance revealed the inability of the Peiping regime to cope with the famine. Starving people were left to fend for themselves. Others said Communists avoided use of force for fear of triggering sizable uprisings. A number expressed belief that the Hongkong border scenes bespoke a general internal crisis for the Red regime.
"If a general crisis has not already begun," reported U.S. columnist Joseph Alsop, "it is likely to do so before many months. The truth is the Red regime now seems to be in the grip of a remorselessly descending spiral. There is no sign that the next harvest will bring relief .... Grave, prolonged food shortage will turn, in the end, into a political crisis."
With the people starving, the Chinese Communists were either unwilling or unable to take remedial action. Ironically, Peiping was still exporting food to its allies. Reliable sources revealed that of the 371,900 mctric tons of rice bought from Burma in 1961, only 55,000 tons were consumed on the mainland. The balance was used to fill Peiping's external commitments, largely to Fidel Castro's Cuba and Ceylon. There also has been a diversion of grain to Albania and East Germany.
Free World Help
The Free World was quick to offer help to refugees. Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker announced on May 21 that Canada would admit 100 Hongkong refugee families. West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt suggested that an international relief association be set up in Hongkong to handle the refugee problem. U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey called for an all-out effort to provide not only food but clothing and medical supplies. Dominican, Argentine, Brazilian and Paraguayan envoys to China voiced belief their governments would give favorable consideration to admission of Chinese refugees.
Militiamen fleeing mainland hide among plants and then doff their ragged uniforms. (File photo)
Unlimited assistance was offered by the government and people of free China, who were deeply concerned about the plight of their countrymen.
Vice President and Premier Chen Cheng announced on May 21 that the Chinese government had decided to accept all mainland refugee who wanted to come to Taiwan.
In a six-point announcement, Premier Chen said: "Both President Chiang Kai-shek and I have been watching the development closely and the government has been trying to find a solution to the problem."
As an emergency relief measure, the Premier said, the Chinese government is prepared to contribute 1,000 tons of rice to the Hongkong government to help feed refugees.
To plan long-range relief and repatriation, the Executive Yuan (Cabinet) has set up an ad hoc committee headed by the Premier.
Meanwhile, free China has prepared to take care of all refugees who wish to come. The Free China Relief Association, which in the past 11 years has brought 71,286 refugees to Taiwan, was ready to send representatives to Hongkong to make arrangements. Kaohsiung harbor in southern Taiwan was selected as a reception center. The government perfected plans for permanent resettlement projects in the eastern part of the island.
Flow Halts Abruptly
A rice donation drive was initiated by several civic bodies. The Taiwan Farmer's Association urged rural families to extend helping hands. The same appeal was issued by the Overseas Chinese Confederation to the vast Chinese communities abroad.
Just as the Free World program of refugee assistance began to reach effective proportions, the refugee flow into Hongkong was brought to an abrupt halt.
On May 25, loudspeakers on the Communist side of the border barked all day long, telling those still waiting near the fence or hiding in no-man's land to go back to their villages. Overnight, the number of refugees assaulting the frontier was drastically reduced to a few hundred. All signs indicated the Communists had reimposed border controls that would curb any further large-scale attempts to escape.
On May 27, Hongkong authorities declared that the border situation had reverted to normal. British army troops were withdrawn and workmen dismantled the detention camps from which the more than 60,000 had been sent back to the mainland.
Life or Death
A small number of desperate refugees still lingered in the border area. For them escape had become a matter of life or death. For most, it became the latter. The morning of May 28, villagers spotted more than 200 bodies floating on the Shumchun River. Some were babies still tied to their mothers' backs. They had been too weak for the swim across the 15-foot deep Shumchun River.
The Republic of China continued with plans to receive large numbers of refugees. Both government and people believed that unless the Chinese Communists can solve the food problem quickly—a virtual impossibility-a renewal of massive escape attempts is inevitable. They predicted that even a tighter Communist border patrol would not be able to stop those who faced only death if they stayed. Support for this opinion was to be found in the increasing number of refugees flooding into Macao. Study of refugee acceptance from the Portuguese colony was under way, and the Free China Relief Association examined the possibility of making Kinmen and Matsu, offshore islands held by the nationalist army, into major outlets for refugees.
An ancient Chinese saying holds that "a regime which is forsaken by its own people will topple any minute." Judging from the determination of mainlanders to get away—anywhere-the days of Chinese Communism are numbered in smaller and smaller figures.