The KMT versus the CCP: Dueling Chinese Nationalisms and the Politics of Colonial Rule During Hong Kong’s 1956 Riots

During October 10–12, 1956, British Hong Kong was engulfed in a downward spiral of violence that pitted Kuomintang (KMT) supporters against men and women affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), forcing the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Republic of China (ROC), and Great Britain to engage in a series of tense diplomatic exchanges that could have escalated into a wider geopolitical conflict. The actions of KMT supporters precipitated the 1956 riots, thereby granting opportunities to the PRC to repeatedly and strongly criticize the colonial government for allegedly failing to protect Chinese who were loyal to Beijing. While the PRC did not intervene militarily to protect its supporters, the 1956 riots revealed to London the precarious nature of colonial rule and underscored the fact that the colony’s very existence was dependent upon the acquiescence of Beijing.