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The following is issued on behalf of the Provisional Urban Council:

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, many who had escaped and made their way to China were helped one way or another by the East River Column - a guerrilla group.

You can learn about the important role these combatants played in local history in an English talk, "The East River Column - with special reference to the Hong Kong and Kowloon groups", on Friday (May 29) at 6 pm in the Extension Activities Room on the eighth floor of the City Hall High Block in Central.

The talk is jointly presented by the Provisional Urban Council Public Libraries and the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch). Mr Chan Sui-jeung, a research associate of the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong Kong, will speak on the subject.

The East River Column, formed in 1936, was made up of Hakka and Dongguan people. It was originally called the Guangdong People's Anti-Japanese Guerrillas Group and was not known as a communist-led group until December 8, 1943.

Its members were mostly intellectuals and communists who led groups of peasants and industrial workers, many of whom eventually became communist terrorists in Malaya and Singapore in the 1950s. At the height of its power, the column had around 6,000 to 10,000 members.

The talk will be open to the public free of charge on a first-come-first-served basis.

For enquiries, please call 2921 2555.

End/Wednesday, May 27, 1998

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