WTO the hell!

This week is WTO week in Hong Kong. The papers are full of pictures of demonstrators and the security has been beefed up, Hong Kong style. That means that all of the entrances to my office building, apart from the main entrance, have been closed. The main entrance has ominous signs of "you will be asked to show ID" and "you will have your bags searched". Third day coming in through that entrance without showing ID or having my bag searched or even seeing any body whose role it might be to do those things. All that they've done, basically, is to make sure everyone goes through the same entrance, providing a theoretically bigger target than normal... Oh well, I don't think Hong Kong understands security in the same way as US/UK and other nations do. My personal theory is that the 'evil-doers' need Hong Kong as a bastion of capitalism and corporate freedom to move their money around - so any strike at HK would be disastrous for them.

The WTO protests are also a bit tamer than seen in other cities around the world. This could also have something to do with the fact that HK has done amazingly well from free trade (and indeed almost owes its existence to it. The main protestors are those who have come from abroad, and the Korean militants are getting much play. For an example of how the Koreans demonstrate, see this picture. If you ask me they are doing themselves damage by swimming in the HK harbour - I don't know how many even made it to shore, but those who did will doubtless find strange things growing on their bodies soon enough!!!

The main problem of the WTO in HK is that HK is pretty small (at least the island part) so that the distance from the main financial district (Central) and the Convention Centre (the bird like building in the photograph) in Wanchai is very small (a 15/20 minute walk) and that Wanchai is one of the main nightlife areas in HK (known for its 'girly' bars as well as more respectable joints). I haven't been there yet in the evening to see the effect the WTO is having on the bars/restaurants but may check it out tonight or tomorrow so will post later on. Since the Wanchai bars are a major source of revenue, I suspect that they will be fairly well protected from the demonstrators or that the bars are offering some sort of promotion to anyone who can prove themselves to be a bona fide demonstrator (something like an anti-globalisation happy hour). Watch this space...