Hundreds of protesters broke through police lines and came within meters of the convention center where the World Trade Organization is meeting. Hong Kong police fought back with pepper spray and tear gas.
In the most serious confrontation seen during this week's World Trade Organization conference, some of the thousands of protesters snatched steel traffic barriers and used them as battering rams to break through police lines Saturday evening.
As they ran to within a few meters of the WTO's meeting site, police fired tear gas containers and battered protesters with batons.
For hours Saturday afternoon, the police and the protesters had scuffled. The activists, led by a group of South Korean farmers chant "Down, down, WTO," and "Down, down, USA." The protesters said all week that they aimed to derail the talks on liberalizing global trade. Anti-WTO activists say trade rules unfairly favor rich countries over poor and hurt farmers.
