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Comparing the 1967 Riots in Hong Kong and the 1959–1960 Anti-security Treaty Movement in Japan

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Abstract

This article compares the 1967 riots in Hong Kong and the 1959–1960 anti-security treaty movement in Japan in terms of six different dimensions—(1) the organization of the leftist groups that participated in the two movements, (2) the extent of support from external communist powers, especially China and the Soviet Union, (3) the leftists’ focus and goals, (4) the tactics employed by the leftist forces, (5) the colonial and Japanese governments’ response to the disturbances, and (6) the influence of several key events on public opinion. In so doing, it provides several unique findings and insights. Most importantly, several key events influenced public opinion in opposite directions—negatively in Hong Kong and more positively in Japan. This was probably the most important determinant of the differing degrees of the leftists’ success in their respective revolutionary movements. The two cases therefore prove at least partially the important principle in any revolutionary movement that the attainment of legitimacy and the mobilization of popular support are the key to success. The people, after all, are the center of gravity in revolutionary warfare.

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Notes

  1. The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for inspiring this point.

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  1. BSSc Programme in Global Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong

    Toru Horiuchi

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Correspondence to Toru Horiuchi.

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Horiuchi, T. Comparing the 1967 Riots in Hong Kong and the 1959–1960 Anti-security Treaty Movement in Japan. East Asia 37, 121–151 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12140-020-09329-8

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