The 1967 riots leader Yeung Kwong made a mistake in implementing the orders of ultra-leftist mainland officials but the major responsibility for the unrest was not his, a veteran pro-Beijing journalist said yesterday.
However, the decision to award Mr Yeung the Grand Bauhinia Medal was tantamount to approving of the riots, said Kam Yiu-yu, former chief editor of Wen Wei Po . Mr Kam said the local branch of the New China News Agency (NCNA) masterminded the unrest that brought Hong Kong to a standstill.
Fifteen of the deaths during the riots were caused by bomb attacks by radical leftists, while Commercial Radio broadcaster Lam Bun was burned to death.
The decision to grant the Grand Bauhinia Medal to Mr Yeung on July 1 has provoked a storm of criticism. The 75-year-old unionist was the director of the Anti-British Struggle Committee during the riots.
Mr Kam said the riots had spilled over from the Cultural Revolution. 'The local branch of NCNA was manipulated by the ultra-leftists headed by [Mao Zedong's wife] Jiang Qing and [Communist Part vice-chairman] Lin Biao,' he said.
Mr Kam, who renounced his Communist Party membership after the Tiananmen massacre in 1989, said Mr Yeung had blindly implemented the orders from the ultra-leftist bosses.