Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The Imperial Japanese occupation of Hong Kong began when the governor of Hong Kong, Sir Mark Young, surrendered the British Crown colony of Hong Kong to the Empire of Japan on 25 December 1941. His surrender occurred after 18 days of fierce fighting against the Japanese forces that invaded the territory.[5][6] The occupation lasted for three years and eight months until Japan surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The length of the period (三年零八個月, lit. 'three years and eight months') later became a metonym of the occupation.[6]
Hong Kong Occupied Territory
Military occupation by the Empire of Japan
Japanese Military occupation
8–25 December 1941
25 December 1941
15 August 1945
30 August 1945
1,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
1,042 km2 (402 sq mi)
1,639,000
600,000
香港日治時期
香港日治时期
Xiānggǎng Rìzhìshíqī
Xiānggǎng Rìzhìshíqī
Hēung góng yaht jih sìhk kèih
Heong1 gong2 jat6 zi6 sik4 kei4
War crimes[edit]
Refugee boat sinking[edit]
On 19 May 1942, 10,000 refugees were detained by the Japanese army and escorted to the Sai Wan, where they boarded the ships. When they boarded the ship, each was given a jar of rice weighing about two kilograms, two pieces of bread, and ten Hong Kong dollars. After boarding the ship, the refugees were locked in the bilge. A total of nineteen ships were towed by a small boat, but soon after the journey started, a typhoon hit and the ships were left to drift on their own. Fourteen sank, killing about 3,000 people. The bow of another ship was destroyed. Survivors rescued later were unable to walk due to starvation. Many of them died on the beach.[42]
Indiscriminate killing of civilians during census[edit]
On 18 September 1942, the Japanese Occupation Government in Hong Kong held the first population census. According to historical documents, more than 2,000 people were killed or disappeared after being arrested during the census.[43]
Sinking of Lisbon Maru[edit]
On 25 September 1942, the Japanese army brought 1,816 prisoners of war from the Sham Shui Po prisoner of war camp to the freighter "Lisbon Maru" moored at Stonecutters Island, and set sail two days later to transport the prisoners of war to Japan for hard labor. The Japanese army did not mark the ship as transporting POWs. Lisbon Maru was torpedoed by the submarine USS Grouper of the US Pacific Fleet in the sea off Zhoushan, Zhejiang. The ship sank on 2 October. Although some prisoners of war swam out of the cabin to escape, the Japanese soldiers on the adjacent ships shot and killed the escaped prisoners, resulting in about 1,000 deaths and 384 injuries.
Refugees abandoned on Beaufort Island[edit]
In July 1944, about 400 refugees were found on the Beaufort Island where there were few plants or animals. They were left to fend for themselves. According to residents of Cape D'Aguilar in the nearby region, they often heard screams and cries coming from the island. Skeletons were found all over the area later on, most died from starvation or drowning in failed escape.[44]
Lynching at the Central Police Station[edit]
During the Japanese occupation, most people released from the Station died soon after, and it is estimated that more than 100 died due to starvation or torture. The police also transported some prisoners directly for execution without trials. Most of the interrogations were conducted by the Japanese military police only. There were no judges, lawyers, and observers.[45]
Forced labour on Hainan Island[edit]
In March 1942, 484 civilians who had been imprisoned at the Hop Kee Company on Gloucester Road, Wanchai, were deported to Hainan Island via the Japanese cargo ship " "Yuen Lam" for forced labour. After the Liberation of Hong Kong, only a hundred people were able to return. More than 300 people died of torture and starvation.
During the Japanese occupation, a total of 20,000 Hong Kong people and 20,000 mainlanders were abducted to mine in Hainan Island, where they were abused and many died of starvation.Of the 40,000 Chinese workers on Hainan Island, only 5,000 survived.[46]
North Point Prisoner Camp and Deportation[edit]
On the afternoon of 1 December 1944, a woman went out to collect firewood sticks on the side of the mountain. Suddenly, a Japanese military police and two Chinese police officers came to arrest her and stabbed her in the back.Two other elderly women who were arrested at the same time were also stabbed in the back. They were immediately taken to the Aberdeen Police Station and imprisoned. During the period, they were not provided with food and water. They were taken to the North Point Refugee Camp on 2 December.
There were also many prisoners in the camp, and the camp gate was guarded by Japanese military police and Chinese police with weapons. Some said there were only two meals a day in the camp, including a bowl of congee given at 8:00 in the morning. Prisoners were confined in jail all day. Some were stripped naked.There were children in the camp as well.
Two weeks later, the number of people in the camp reached 400. At 4 pm that day, all of them were forced to board a boat by the port at North Point. After a day, they arrived in Pinghai Town, Huizhou City . The able-bodied refugees were released; about seventy people deemed physically weak were slaughtered and their bodies were dumped into the sea.[47]
On 19 December 1941, a group of Japanese soldiers killed ten St. John stretcher bearers at Wong Nai Chung Gap despite the fact that all the stretcher bearers wore the red cross armband. These soldiers captured a further five medics who were tied to a tree, two of whom were taken away by the soldiers, never to be seen again. The remaining three attempted to escape during the night, but only one survived the escape.[48] A team of amateur archaeologists found the remains of half of a badge. Evidence pointed to its belonging to Barclay, the captain of the Royal Army Medical Corps, therefore the archaeologists presented it to Barclay's son, Jim, who had never met his father before his death.[48] Other notable massacres near the end of the Battle of Hong Kong including the St. Stephen's College massacre.
Between the Surrender of Japan (15 August 1945) and formal surrender of Hong Kong to Rear Admiral Sir Cecil Harcourt (16 September 1945), fifteen Japanese soldiers arrested, tortured and executed around three hundred villagers of Silver Mine District of Lantau Island as retaliation after being ambushed by Chinese guerrillas.[26] The incident was later referred as Silver Mine Bay massacre (銀礦灣大屠殺) by locals.