The Pirate Who Slipped Away
For the longest time, the waters surrounding Hong Kong were infested with pirates. Although the Royal Navy and the Chinese navies painstakingly rid the South China Sea of most pirate fleets in the 1920s, residual piracy persisted well into the mid-twentieth century. Among these was the notorious Lau Chun-ping, whose criminal career culminated between 1945 and 1947 before he vanished following a raid by the Water Police (now the Hong Kong Marine Police).
During the Second World War, Lau Chun-ping rose to become a local guerrilla hero for his fierce acts of maritime resistance against the Japanese occupation. Operating from Lung Kwu Tan in the western New Territories, his extensive knowledge of the jagged coastlines of Tuen Mun, Castle Peak, and Lantau Island enabled him to launch hit-and-run attacks on Japanese ships, disrupting the occupiers' logistics.
However, once the war ended and the Japanese withdrew, Lau Chun-ping found himself without Japanese supply ships to attack. Needing to support his armed network, he transitioned his combat forces from anti-Japanese resistance to a highly organized pirate syndicate. This turned the Hong Kong Government—his former protectors—into fierce enemies.
On October 20, 1947, the Water Police launched a surprise raid on Lau Chun-ping’s stronghold in Lung Kwu Tan. Although the operation put a definitive end to Lau Chun-ping’s criminal career, Lau himself managed to escape the police and completely vanish into history (only one wounded pirate was arrested during the entire raid).
The ceremonial peachwood sword retrieved during the sweep of Lau’s house was given to the Hong Kong Marine Police officers' mess as a trophy, symbolizing the end of traditional coastal piracy in Hong Kong waters.
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