Trade talks protestors fight running battles with police
Hundreds of protestors broke through police lines in a bid to storm world trade talks in Hong Kong today – but security forces fought back with water cannons and tear gas.
It was the worst street violence the city has experienced in decades, and police quickly locked the doors to the convention centre, where trade ministers from around the world were in the final hours of a six-day negotiation.
Police Commissioner Dick Lee said 41 people – including five police officers - were injured, but only two needed to be taken to hospital.
Lee said police detained 900 people and were deciding whether to formally arrest them.
“If necessary we will make arrests. We will not let them go easily,” he said.
Security forces spent much of the afternoon fighting running street battles with the protestors, who included South Korean farmers, south-east Asian groups and activists from Europe and America.
The demonstrators oppose the World Trade Organisation’s efforts to open up global markets.
The protestors hit police with bamboo sticks and used a metal barrier to ram a line of officers armed with riot shields. The police fought back with clubs, pepper spray and water cannons that shot water mixed with a chemical that burned the skin and eyes.
Police used the tear gas just minutes after Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee went on television and warned the public to stay away from the area.
“The police will take robust action to dispel these illegal and violent actions,” Lee warned.
The tear gas dispersed the protestors and the police were able to retake the area around the convention centre. The demonstrators regrouped and started a massive sit-in, shutting down one of Hong Kong’s busiest streets. They beat drums, chanted and waved flags that said: “WTO Kills Farmers.”
They tried to storm the WTO venue again an hour later and were repelled with more tear gas.
Some of the protestors said the tear gas was unnecessary.
“Hong Kong police are violent,” said Lee Sang-jeong, a South Korean farmer. “I had no weapon, only my body.”
Dressed in a chicken suit, protester Tom Grundy, 22, a teacher from Birmingham, England, said: “There was a sudden bang. I didn’t know what it was. I thought it was just a smoke screen or something, and then everyone started running.”
Several European Union negotiators were meeting in hotels when the violence began, and they were unable to return to the WTO venue because police blocked off the area.
Mostly peaceful protests have been held daily since the WTO started meeting on Tuesday.
Previous WTO meetings in Seattle and Cancun, Mexico, were marred by large-scale violent demonstrations.
The WTO, which includes 149 nations and territories, sets rules for trade and helps resolve disputes.
