WTO protesters clash with police

Hong Kong,(China): Hundreds of protesters have clashed with police outside World Trade Organization talks being held at Hong Kong's convention center.

Police on Saturday used tear gas, fire hoses and pepper spray in attempts to quell demonstrations as the protesters tried to edge closer to the building where negotiations are taking place.

Although demonstrations have largely been peaceful this week, with the exception of a few minor scuffles, protesters from South Korea vowed to escalate their actions Saturday.

As yet, the Hong Kong gathering has been spared the intense violence that greeted WTO delegates at previous conferences in Cancun and Seattle.

Many South Korean farmers are desperate to have their view against globalization and imports heard at the WTO.

They are opposed lower trade barriers for agricultural imports, which they claim would flood the South Korean market with cheap rice and force many of the country's farmers out of business. It is a view shared by many anti-globalization groups in other countries.

Demonstrators in Hong Kong attempted to break through a barrier marking the designated protest zone.

When they failed, the group of about 1,000 to 1,500 split into smaller groups of about a dozen and spread out over several square blocks in a cat-and-mouse game with police, then reassembled closer to the exhibition center where talks are being held and began to push forward.

Police holding riot shields and wearing gas masks tried pepper spray and fire hoses to keep the demonstrators back, then fired tear-gas canisters, a nearly unheard-of tactic in normally civilized Hong Kong.

A main thoroughfare through the densely populated district, which includes shops, nightclubs and residences, was shut down because of the alternating standoffs and clashes with police.

The city center has been virtually paralyzed, Chinoy said.

Although an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 protesters have shown up at the WTO talks, only a small fraction of them were participating in Saturday's violence, Chinoy reported from the scene.

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About 2,000 police have been deployed into the area to stop any violent protests.

Saturday night, protesters were about 100 meters away from the entrance to the exhibition center, the closest they have been able to get.

Hong Kong has drawn criticism for holding the talks at the exhibition center, a building that is easily accessible, and also for establishing a protest area with a clear line that can be breached.

Inside the building, only limited progress was being made. A draft agreement touching on a variety of issues was released Saturday, but no final agreement had been reached as of Saturday night.

Among other issues, the draft attempts to reach a compromise on a timeline for eliminating agricultural export subsidies in richer countries, an issue that has caused a rift between the United States and the European Union during the talks.