First anti-WTO protests hit Hong Kong

Several thousand anti-globalisation protesters have marched through Hong Kong, in the first of several demonstrations planned against this week's World Trade Organisation talks.

The leaders of nearly 150 countries are set to meet in the southern Chinese city on Dec 13 to try to lower trade barriers and defeat world poverty.
Supporters of the talks say a trade deal could generate billions of dollars in benefits, but many opponents say it would largely benefit richer nations at the expense of developing countries.

Organisers said about 4,000 protesters marched today, waving signs reading "Junk the WTO" and "Rice is life. Life is not for sale". Police estimated the crowd at about 3,200.

"This has been a successful protest and a very peaceful one. The biggest source of violence is from the WTO," said Elizabeth Tang, head of the Hong Kong Peoples' Alliance on WTO, which co-ordinated the protest.

Around 10,000 anti-globalisation activists are expected to come to Hong Kong for the trade meeting.

Worried about a repeat of the violence that marred previous trade meetings in Cancun and Seattle, about 9,000 police have been mobilised in the city's biggest ever security operation.

Workers welded together huge black iron gates outside the convention centre and, in two hotels next to the venue which will hold a large number of delegates, metal detectors were set up to screen people coming into the lobby.