World Bulletin / News Desk

Hong Kong is unrecognisable now from the city which 50 years ago was the scene of bloody riots, fuelled by resentment of colonial rule and inspired by the Cultural Revolution unfolding in China.

What started as a labour dispute in an era of poverty and corruption, when many lived and worked in poor conditions, became large-scale street battles fomented by the Chinese Communist Party.

The clashes between leftists and police lasted from May to December and left 51 dead, including five police officers.

Images from the time show bloodied residents, including women and children, and large groups of protesters facing off against police. 

Luk Tak-shing, now 70, was jailed during the riots and remembers police swooping on the union building where he worked.

He says he was beaten, arrested and imprisoned for unlawful assembly as 40 union workers were rounded up.

Luk had been helping workers organise a strike and he says he saw himself as part of a patriotic movement against colonial power.

"These ethnic hostilities had taken root in my heart from a young age," said Luk, who attended a communist-run leftist school where he learned about historic injustices and racial inequality.

"The scenes of police beatings infuriated me, even now when I recount them I'm very agitated," Luk told AFP.