World Trade Organization: Hong Kong

The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong 13-18 December, 2005. Locally, coverage of what the ministers will be talking about has amounted to next to nothing. Instead, since the summer already, local English- and Chinese-language newspapers have been reporting official steps being taken to head-off, contain, deal with 'violent protests'. Stephen Steven Vines in today's (Hong Kong) Standard has an opinion piece:

Fearing the outbreak of violent demonstrations the government is planning to close most Hong Kong Island schools on the conference's opening day. Companies have been warned not to schedule important business meetings in the Wan Chai area during the conference. Banks have been instructed to formulate plans for a disruption of business.
In addition there is the usual host of police mobilization measures, traffic control schemes and, so we now learn, a plan to prevent the hijacking of RTHK, the event's host broadcaster.
Meanwhile, there are reports that hotel rooms have been denied to would-be WTO protesters and the existence of an official immigration watchlist has been made public which strongly suggests that entry will be denied to some of those who want to take part in the demonstrations,
What message is Hong Kong sending the world with all this talk of riot and disruption? One reading of the situation is that the government is panicking, so unsure of coping that it is lashing out in all directions.

Read Stephen Vines in full? Go here.