WTO ministerial conference: Day one

The sixth WTO Ministerial Conference opened today, amid high security and concern over the anti-WTO and anti-globalization protests expected throughout the nation.

Addressing the opening session, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Donald Tsang said, "We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enhance the existing international trading environment."

He said that "It (the meeting) would become a key staging post to the successful conclusion of the multilateral trade negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda", promising that people in Hong Kong were determined to make the meeting a success.

It may be recalled that the protests are being made against the opening up of the third world economies, including India and Brazil, under the Doha Development Agenda. The negotiations for the Doha Development Agenda, were launched in 2001 and if implemented, the agenda, has the potential to completely change the South-East Asian global scenario, by strengthening the multilateral trading system, promoting global economic growth and improving economic development opportunities for developing countries. The main idea is to strike a deal with developed nations like the United Sates and European Union in order to lower trade barriers and allow greater market access.
The EU, in particular, is being pressurized into making deeper cuts in agriculture tariffs than the average 39 percent it has offered. However, it has refused to budge without balancing pledges from developing states to open their markets to industrial goods. This was confirmed today, by the French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde, on behalf of EU.

Though the city did not witness any violent protests such as those seen during the last WTO meetings in Cancun and Seattle, there were a number of incidents when the police had to resort to various methods to forcefully disperse the agitators.

In the process, nine people, including two police officers, were injured as police used a skin-irritant spray to force back a violent group of protesters.

In other instances of these agitations dozens of protesters inside the hall where the conference was underway, forced WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy to raise his voice as they chanted: "Development yes, Doha no’."

Outside the conference hall, over 100 protesters leapt into Hong Kong harbour after a peaceful march by as many as 5000 people against trade liberalization. "The WTO is driving us to our deaths," one of the protesters yelled.

Sending clear signals to the officials, Park Min Woong, secretary general of the Korean Peasants’ League, said, "We are warning the Hong Kong authorities: we won’t let you hinder our peaceful demonstration plan, if you block us we’ll take other measures to achieve our goals. If they try to force any agreement that the people don’t like then this is what is going to happen. We don’t want anything to happen so we urge the officials to listen to the people"

Meanwhile, Dick Lee, Hong Kong’s commissioner of police said, "I am confident we can cope with any scenario, if anyone uses violence, the Hong Kong Police are capable of dealing with it.’’