Thread: Thousands protest WTO in Hong Kong

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Thousands protest WTO in Hong Kong
HONG KONG, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- Minor scuffles with police marred a largely peaceful march by 4,000 protesters against the World Trade Organization meeting that opened Tuesday in Hong Kong.

Police in riot gear contained the protesters, who shoved and shouted as they approached giant water-filled plastic barriers surrounding the Hong Kong Convention Center, where the six-day ministerial conference opened in the afternoon.

The largest group included more than 1,000 South Korean farmers, many beating drums and carrying signs saying: "WTO kills farmers."

Philippine fishermen, Indonesian migrant workers and Taiwanese trade unionists were also among the marchers.

Many businesses along the route were closed and shops were shuttered to guard against possible violence, such as that which disrupted previous ministerial talks in Seattle in 1999 and Cancun, Mexico, in 2003. A South Korean farmer stabbed himself to death in Cancun.

Seo Jungeui, spokesman of the Korean Advanced Farmers Federation, told UPI that there would be no extreme action at this year's meeting. "We will demonstrate peacefully and cooperate with the police," he said.

About 300 Philippine, Indonesian and Thai fishermen staged a protest on a boat in Victoria Harbor near the Convention Center.

Inside, a small group of activists disrupted the opening session by shouting slogans as Pascal Lamy, director general of the WTO, addressed delegates.

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/051214/w121418.html

Protesters, police clash on Day 2 of WTO forum; U.S. says EU stalling talks
06:46:34 EST Dec 14, 2005
FOSTER KLUG

HONG KONG (AP) - South Korean farmers clashed with police outside a World Trade Organization meeting for a second day Wednesday as the U.S. blamed the European Union for holding up stalled global trade talks.

U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman publicly exhorting fellow delegates at the meeting in Hong Kong to push toward concluding a sweeping free-trade treaty.

"Unless the EU moves on market access, I don't see anyone else moving," Portman told reporters on the sidelines of the WTO gathering.

The EU's refusal to further cut its farm subsidies and import tariffs has been blamed by many delegates for the current deadlock in the WTO's free trade negotiations. Poor countries say trade barriers protecting agricultural markets in the EU, United States and other wealthy states block their exports and stunt their economic growth.

Many protesters say globalization favours the rich and robs workers of their jobs.

For a second day, dozens of South Korean farmers clashed with police on the streets of Hong Kong. The farmers have been among the most militant protesters at the event, claiming that a WTO treaty cutting import barriers would wipe out their rice market and livelihoods.

Security forces fought back the demonstrators with pepper spray, clubs and shields as the protesters punched, kicked and tried to break through a police line a few blocks from the WTO meeting venue.

The farmers, dressed in matching red vests, chanted: "Down, down WTO,"

"The WTO is the axis of evil. We are determined to struggle to put an end to the WTO," said To Sung-hoon, an activist with a South Korean teachers' union.

Inside the convention centre, Portman told fellow trade delegates from 149 countries that a failure to reach an agreement on cutting trade barriers risks ruining a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to boost the global economy and alleviate poverty.

"The time to stop postponing the toughest work has arrived," Portman said. "I believe either we move forward or we risk moving backward toward protectionism that will stunt economic growth and harm the developing world the most."

Portman pressed negotiators not to leave Hong Kong without setting a date for another meeting early next year to nail down a clear outline for a final treaty.

"Although we may not achieve all we had hoped for this week, let us set another deadline to keep the pressure on," he said.

EU trade chief Peter Mandelson also told delegates that the world cannot afford to wait any longer to wrap up the so-called Doha round of free trade talks, originally meant to conclude by 2004. But he said the WTO's members will not reach that goal unless negotiations move away from the sensitive topic of farm trade and strive to cut trade barriers on industrial goods and services.

"We will not succeed, in Hong Kong or after, if we continue to focus on only one part of the round," Mandelson said. "We cannot afford to wait again. When the finishing line is in sight, it is the time to quicken our pace."

Mandelson has said the EU won't change its offer of an average 46 per cent cut in farm tariffs unless developing countries offer substantive reductions in their trade barriers on manufactured goods and services.

Underscoring the limited nature of his ability to negotiate, French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said in Paris on Tuesday that France will not accept any EU budget accord that forces Europe to reform agricultural policy before 2013.

Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath warned WTO members against backtracking on the pledge they made four years ago to reform the global trading system to the benefit of the poor. Developing countries want wealthy countries to eliminate export subsidies and make drastic cuts in other trade-distorting support to farmers by 2010.

"Our farmers are quite willing to deal with trade flows, but not with avalanche of subsidy flows from development countries," Nath said.

Amid the stalemate and protests, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy acknowledged the WTO had a credibility problem. He said that if the World Health Organization worked on a new vaccine and it didn't work out, there wouldn't be challenges over its worth as an organization, but the situation is different for the WTO.

Striving to show some progress, wealthy countries stressed their commitment to helping the least-developed become more integrated into global trade. Portman said the United States will give $2.7 billion US in grants by 2010 to developing countries in so-called "aid-for-trade," which is meant to help them build trade infrastructure and other services to better compete in world markets.

Another measure meant to help poorer states appeared to be running into problems, however. Mandelson told reporters that some WTO members are reluctant to agree on a package granting the world's poorest countries duty-free and quota-free privileges - a proposal that seemed to garner broad support as recently as Tuesday.

GO SOUTH KOREANS!!!

Stand up for your rights and your freedoms we helped you have at great cost to our nation!!

GO!! GO!! GO!!

DEFEAT THE WTO!!

Shut this band of Globalist Goblins whose only mission is to rule the entire world DOWN!!

What is wrong with our US Congress keeping the United States in a World Government Intent organization whose intentions are to RULE THE UNITED STATES and all the nations of the world?

Have they lost their friggin' minds?

Do they not realize that when American Wakes Up, their nasty deeds will be exposed and they'll have 250,000,000 Pissed Off Americans demanding their hides?

These people are all insane.

GET THEM OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT NOW!!

The people behind WTO control all three branches of our government folks and most of our state houses throughout the 50 states. There is no "relief" at the state level.

This has to be cleaned out from Washington DC down to every state house to every county to every municipality.

They've been working on this for over 50 years. They are waaaaaay ahead of US.

IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY....because they are responsible for the 38 FTA Treason Treaties like CAFTA and 37 others that they pushed down Congress throats and twisted arms until they would break to get the votes. They used our money we don't even have to buy these votes.

Then clean house in Congress. Get Hastert in the Oval Office as fast as possible on a "YOU TRICK US, WE'LL TROT YOUR ASS TO JAIL WITH WITH THE REST OF THEM QUICKER THAN YOU CAN SAY WTO OR FTA".

Wake Up America!!

It is now or never.

Lets do it!!

Don't Spend, Save. Keep the power in your purse, empty theirs, and we'll rule ourselves again.