Anger spills over at WTO in Hong Kong
-18/12/05
Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas a
Anger spills over at WTO in Hong Kong
-18/12/05
Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas at protestors yesterday evening, as anger spilled on to the streets over the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks ñ which many see as moving in the direction of a further betrayal of the global poor.
Christian development agencies and other NGOs lobbying for trade justice expressed dismay at the outburst of violence, fearing that it will overwhelm media coverage and detract from the case for trade justice.
But an observer told Ekklesia that it was important to look at the sources of the anger.
ìThis wasnít simply people who can be dismissed as ëmiddle class anti-globalization protestorsí, it was farmers as people who feel excluded from talks which will determine whether they have a liveable future or not.î
The tear gas was fired as protestors used metal barricades to charge police lines while trying to break into the convention centre where the WTO is meeting.
Among the ringleaders were Korean farmers who are furious about rich world protectionism and unfair trade rules.
At one point they succeeded in breaking through police lines at one and got within a few hundred yards of the venue before being driven back in fierce skirmishes with the police.
Hong Kong is unused to such scenes. Its head of police made it clear that dissent of this kind would not be tolerated, and warned onlookers to stay out of the danger zone.
But China watchers say that if mainland troops had been involved (Hong Kong is a special zone within the Peopleís Republic) the tactics would have been more brutal.
Around 30 people, including a number of police, were injured in the clashes.
By late in the evening, according to news agencies, police in full riot gear and some in gas masks were surrounding 900 protestors in the city’s arterial Gloucester Road. They sat down and began banging drums and chanting anti-WTO slogans.
Police commissioner Dick Lee said there was no need to call in army support from China’s People’s Liberation Army, which has 1,000 soldiers barracked in the former British colony.
Cross-harbour traffic and underground trains were redirected by the authorities to keep people away from Wan Chai where the clashes were centred.
Saturday’s violence was the first since the meeting’s opening days on Tuesday and Wednesday. when radical South Korean protestors clashed with police.
[Also on Ekklesia: Trade justice hangs in the balance 17/12/05; Poor countries unhappy at British trade talks tactics 17/1/05; World Trade deal only worth one cent a day says Christian Aid; Christian Aid laments receding trade talk hopes; Christian Aid warns of trade talks walk-out after leak; Thousands call for just global trade in mass lobby of Parliament; Christian Aid says European Union is bullying the global poor; Santa tells Tony Blair to Make Poverty History; Chancellor warns Christians that global justice will take a long haul; UK chancellor to address Christians in run up to WTO talks]
Anger spills over at WTO in Hong Kong
-18/12/05
Hong Kong riot police fired tear gas at protestors yesterday evening, as anger spilled on to the streets over the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks – which many see as moving in the direction of a further betrayal of the global poor.
Christian development agencies and other NGOs lobbying for trade justice expressed dismay at the outburst of violence, fearing that it will overwhelm media coverage and detract from the case for trade justice.
But an observer told Ekklesia that it was important to look at the sources of the anger.
‘This wasn’t simply people who can be dismissed as ëmiddle class anti-globalization protestors’, it was farmers as people who feel excluded from talks which will determine whether they have a liveable future or not.’
The tear gas was fired as protestors used metal barricades to charge police lines while trying to break into the convention centre where the WTO is meeting.
Among the ringleaders were Korean farmers who are furious about rich world protectionism and unfair trade rules.
At one point they succeeded in breaking through police lines at one and got within a few hundred yards of the venue before being driven back in fierce skirmishes with the police.
Hong Kong is unused to such scenes. Its head of police made it clear that dissent of this kind would not be tolerated, and warned onlookers to stay out of the danger zone.
But China watchers say that if mainland troops had been involved (Hong Kong is a special zone within the People’s Republic) the tactics would have been more brutal.
Around 30 people, including a number of police, were injured in the clashes.
By late in the evening, according to news agencies, police in full riot gear and some in gas masks were surrounding 900 protestors in the city’s arterial Gloucester Road. They sat down and began banging drums and chanting anti-WTO slogans.
Police commissioner Dick Lee said there was no need to call in army support from China’s People’s Liberation Army, which has 1,000 soldiers barracked in the former British colony.
Cross-harbour traffic and underground trains were redirected by the authorities to keep people away from Wan Chai where the clashes were centred.
Saturday’s violence was the first since the meeting’s opening days on Tuesday and Wednesday. when radical South Korean protestors clashed with police.
[Also on Ekklesia: Trade justice hangs in the balance 17/12/05; Poor countries unhappy at British trade talks tactics 17/1/05; World Trade deal only worth one cent a day says Christian Aid; Christian Aid laments receding trade talk hopes; Christian Aid warns of trade talks walk-out after leak; Thousands call for just global trade in mass lobby of Parliament; Christian Aid says European Union is bullying the global poor; Santa tells Tony Blair to Make Poverty History; Chancellor warns Christians that global justice will take a long haul; UK chancellor to address Christians in run up to WTO talks]