Anti-WTO demonstrations in Hong Kong escalated with the protesters clashing violently with Police Saturday, the fifth day of the ongoing Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization.

The demonstrators, mainly farmers from the Republic of Korea (ROK), have stepped up their protesting activities by ramming through police cordon lines and tried to enter the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center, venue of the conference.

Riot police have reinforced their forces at the Center and used tear gas and water cannons to prevent the demonstrators from entering the conference venue.

It is reported that five persons, including protesters and police, were injured during the clash.

The demonstration has caused traffic jam in downtown Wanchai District, and the police have urged Hong Kong residents not to go to the district.

In a televised speech, Hong Kong Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee condemned the violent acts of the protesters. He said police have exercised restraint to deal with the violent demonstration, but this was by no means a coward performance.

Lee stressed that Hong Kong police have been resolved to control the situation and will take decisive actions soon.

By press time, police have used armored cars to reinforce cordon lines.

The previous ministerial meetings of the World Trade Organization (WTO) also saw violent demonstrations and other protest activities.

On Nov. 30, 1999, the first day of a WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle, the United State, at least 40,000 people staged a demonstration. Police arrested 70 people and the conference's opening ceremony was postponed for five and a half hours.

The demonstrators set fire, broke store windows and spray-painted building walls and police cars with anti-WTO graffiti. As a result, the Seattle mayor declared a state of civil emergency and imposed a curfew on downtown areas of the city.

During the Cancun Ministerial Conference in September 2003, about 2,500 non-government organization representatives and anti-globalization people held a demonstration on the opening day of the conference and clashed violently with the police.

At least 26 people were injured and a ROK demonstrator committed suicide.

Source: Xinhua