CHINA: Anti-globalisation protesters demonstrate in Hong Kong ahead of upcoming World Trade Organisation meeting
Record ID:
858268
CHINA: Anti-globalisation protesters demonstrate in Hong Kong ahead of upcoming World Trade Organisation meeting
- Title: CHINA: Anti-globalisation protesters demonstrate in Hong Kong ahead of upcoming World Trade Organisation meeting
- Date: 11th December 2005
- Summary: INTERVIEW WITH ELIZABETH TANG OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE ON WTO SOUNDBITE (English) ELIZABETH TANG, HEAD OF THE HONG KONG PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE, SAYING: "We are here to tell the Hong Kong government, which is chairing the MC6 in two days time to listen to the voices of people from all over the world and to make sure that the WTO ministerial meeting will result in trade rules which will benefit people and help to lift poverty."
- Embargoed: 26th December 2005 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- City:
- Country: China
- Topics: International Relations,Economic News
- Reuters ID: LVACFFODHUSZXVAOY3GY3LZ12T2U
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- Story Text: Anti-globalisation protesters kicked off a flurry of demonstrations on Sunday (December 11) against this week's World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting of nearly 150 rich and poor nations.
Around 3,000 protesters waving signs reading "Junk the WTO" and "Life is not for sale" marched as South Korean farmers symbolically had their heads shaved.
Some 10,000 activists are expected to converge on Hong Kong during the WTO meeting from Dec. 13-18 in a bid to get stalled global trade talks back on track.
Supporters of the talks say a trade deal could generate billions of dollars in benefits and possibly lift millions out of poverty, but many opponents say it would largely benefit richer nations at the expense of developing countries.
In an interview on Saturday (December 10), Professor Joseph Cheung said there was a general lack of optimism about prospects for the talks.
"At the moment, I think the best we can hope for in this Hong Kong ministerial meeting is to have a timetable set and a roadmap established, so that there will be more momentum there will be greater momentum to engage in further negotiation, and to complete the negotiating process by the end of next year. But at the moment, I think various parties concerned are not too optimistic. The optimist, of course, will argue that naturally there's a lot of brinkmanship just before the crucial negotiations, but this is considered a rather optimistic view," said Cheung.
Protesters will be dogging the meeting's every move, and will include an estimated 1,500 South Korean workers, students and farmers, who are among the most militant anti-globalisation activists in Asia.
Worried about a repeat of the violence which marred previous trade meetings in Cancun and Seattle, police have stepped up patrols near the Hong Kong Convention Centre, the venue of the meeting.
"We are here to tell the Hong Kong government, which is chairing the MC6 in two days time to listen to the voices of people from all over the world and to make sure that the WTO ministerial meeting will result in trade rules which will benefit people and help to lift poverty," said Elizabeth Tang of the Hong Kong People's Alliance on WTO.
Protests at a World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle in 1999 descended into chaos, with rioters smashing windows of stores and throwing rocks at police. In the Mexican resort town of Cancun, where the WTO met in 2003, a South Korean farmer committed suicide in protest.
The WTO talks could be decisive. Two of the last three WTO ministerial conferences ended in bitter disarray and a further setback could be fatal for the chances of negotiating a new treaty by next year to tear down barriers to world trade. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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