Anti-WTO protests planned in Hong Kong

i'm sure the government hired thugs, black bloc or whoever, will be in full force...used as an excuse to ban protesting and for brutal treatment of innocent, peaceful protesters...like in seattle where the black bloc was housed and protected by the police, as the police maced and attacked innocent people and declared no-speech zones in the city...that's freedom...you weren't allowed to have anti-wto stickers or patches or buttons or banners...to keep you safe.

giving up your rights give you a police state and tyranny, that's a good example. it doesn't give you safety.

Anti-WTO protests planned in Hong Kong
By SYLVIA HUI
Associated Press Writer

DEC. 6 12:27 A.M. ET Radical protesters smashing shop windows and club-wielding police often grab the spotlight at World Trade Organization summits, and -- with 10,000 demonstrators expected -- fears are that similar violence will bedevil next week's WTO meeting in Hong Kong.

It will be the first time this orderly global financial capital has had to deal with so many international protesters, though most of them will likely push for their diverse causes in more peaceful, creative ways, such as street theater or workshops. They will be coming for the Dec. 13-18 summit from around the world -- Pakistani fishermen, Korean farmers and Argentine environmentalists.

Despite their diversity, the protesters have a unifying complaint: that WTO's goal of reducing trade barriers brings pain and ruin by threatening livelihoods, land and ways of life.

One group known for fierce battles with police and dramatic gestures to highlight its cause, the Korean Peasants League, plans to send 1,400 farmers.

Last month, two league activists committed suicide by drinking herbicide to protest legislation opening South Korea's rice market, and one stabbed himself to death the WTO summit in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003.

The group is fighting to derail the WTO's aim to lower trade barriers for agricultural imports, which league officials say will flood the Korean market with cheap rice and other food and bankrupt them.

"We believe there shouldn't be talks on agriculture at WTO at all. We demand an end to WTO talks," Kim Hwang Kyeong-san, a league spokeswoman, told The Associated Press.

She said the group is planning a peaceful march in Hong Kong but added, "We will try to block the meeting, using our whole bodies."

Diverse groups are coordinating three major marches throughout the week outside the conference hall, said Mabel Au of the Hong Kong Peoples Alliance, a coalition of 33 local grassroots groups that has been liaising with about 5,000 overseas protesters who plan to come here.

The first march -- to be held on Dec. 12, the eve of the talks -- will focus on local concerns: the Hong Kong government's position on trade agendas like services and industrial goods, Au said. The other two will be more open to diverse international interests, like fair trade for farming goods.

Agriculture remains a key sticking point in the current round of talks, as rich nations like those in the EU fail to agree with poorer countries on cutting protective subsidies and tariffs that block farm exports from developing nations.

The WTO says that freer trade will alleviate poverty, but most protesters view the 148-member body as an undemocratic organization that favors the interests of the rich and powerful.

"Everyone has special interests but the common position is that we don't accept the current format of discussion in the WTO," said Au. "We want to break domination by big corporations and strong countries."

The international aid group Oxfam is also focusing its criticism on agriculture, although its approach is different. The group says rich nations could help implement "pro-poor trade" by increasing their market access without forcing developing countries to reciprocate.

"Rich countries must stop forcing trade-offs with poor countries -- this is supposed to be a development round with poor countries at its heart," said Alison Woodhead, an Oxfam campaigner based in Britain.

Other groups accuse the WTO of worsening environmental damage. Both Friends of the Earth and the Philippines Freedom from Debt Coalition want to stop the privatization of natural resources like water and forests.

David Solnit, an Oakland, California-based activist headed to Hong Kong, sees the WTO as a tool of rich corporations, paving the way for them to make more money -- with no regard for local interests.

"There's a conflict between what's good for corporations and for our communities," says Solnit, who was heavily involved in the Seattle WTO protests in 2000. "Corporate globalization is trying to commoditize the things that matter -- water, health care, food, work."

Solnit plans to dress up as Robin Hood during the protest and do skits on the streets with other activists to show how a global economy driven by corporations exploits people and natural resources.

Instead, he promotes more localized, self-sufficient economies that rely on local farms or collectives that produce goods. "As long as wealthy corporations and the governments they control are in power, the poor are always going to get a raw deal," Solnit said.