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Police clash with protesters
17/12/2005 13:03 - (SA)
Hong Kong - Hong Kong police fired fire hoses and pepper spray at groups of demonstrators on Saturday as anti-WTO protests intensified.
Trouble began when South Korean and other protesters tried to break their way through hundreds of riot police blocking their path to the harbourfront venue of the World Trade Organisation conference.
The protesters threw photographers' ladders and eggs at police.
Broke through police barricades
At one place in Wanchai district, scores broke through police barricades designed to restrict them to an area designated for protest marches.
"No to WTO!" the crowds chanted as a helicopter passed over.
Two roads and a subway station in the Wamchai area were closed for a time. One luxury store was seen draping protective netting over its display windows in case trouble spread.
Police had tightened security around the venue amid fears of violence as the talks draw to a close. Huge stone-block walls were built across access roads to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre from the designated protest zone.
Earlier in the week the site was the scene of three days of minor scuffles between riot police and dozens of mostly South Korean farmers who were trying to force their way towards the talks.
TV news reports said cranes had arrived early in the morning to lay the new 20-feet high wall, which is backed by a restraining steel fence.
Police were also concerned by intelligence suggesting that European anarchists had infiltrated the Chinese city and were planning to cause mayhem at anti-capitalist targets like US fast-food chains and cafes.
Police prevented anarchists from entering
The Chinese-language Ming Pao daily said police had managed to prevent dozens of anarchists from entering but that a handful had managed to sneak in.
The Korean protesters had vowed to make Saturday the day they would "escalate" their so-far low-intensity skirmishes ahead of the end of the meeting on Sunday.
"We will be escalating our protest today but I am not at liberty to explain how," an adviser to South Korean trade unionists in the delegation of 1 400, Lee Chang-Eun, told AFP.
The Koreans have become the focus of media and public attention with their dedicated protests that appear to be planned with military precision.
Earlier Saturday they marched to the European Union's downtown representative office where they staged a peaceful protest.
On Friday night, they sprayed anti-WTO graffiti on the outside wall of the United States consulate before trying to lay siege to the South Korean diplomatic mission.
Hong Kong police have mounted one of their biggest-ever operations during the ministerial conference, putting 9 000 officers on duty.
Protest leaders allege that the police response - in which they used pepper foam and baton charges to repel protesters - has been heavy handed.
Elizabeth Tang, chairperson of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on WTO, said that protesters and NGOs had also complained of being body-searched by police.
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