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December 17, 2005, Hong Kong

I write this from the relative safety of our apartment in Sheung Wan. We are just back from the fracas in Wan Chai where WTO protesters staged a huge parade that blocked traffic on several major thoroughfares. The parade was a planned event and began in Victoria Park, with the route passing through Causeway Bay and Wan Chai, then on to the Convention Center. Well, that’s what was supposed to happen….

Our day started out peacefully with coffee & croissants at Deli France and no particular plan in mind afterwards; it was already past 3pm. Idling curbside after the caffeine and carb jolt, Tony decided we should see if there was anything going on at the WTO conference. Logical choice …for Tony. After a trek back to get the camera - I wasn’t about to go there without it - we were off to the MTR and out at the Wan Chai station.

Eerie silence enveloped the area. Hennessey was quiet, Lockhart dead, no people or cars on the streets below. You must understand, Hong Kong is never silent and there’s never “no people”. Congregations of cops eyeballed the few who meandered across the overhead walkways. We headed straight to the Convention Center. A few photographers and others milled about in front of the barricades. Lines of police, swat teams and paramilitary behind, then way back we could make out the Convention Center - per their plans, they were keeping a “no fly” buffer zone around the building. Tony chatted with a young dude who was passing out flyers and discovered that there was a parade heading this way, but not for two hours yet.

Rather than wait around, antsy Tony wanted to meet the parade on the way. Without a map, we headed off in the general direction of Queen’s Road (which is where we were told it was), but half hour later caught in crossroads hell, we turned back. Lo and behold, there was the parade heading straight for us!

I staked out a great spot on a fence giving me a higher vantage point from which to see it all. That worked for about five minutes for Tony. He insisted that we join the marchers. That we should contribute to the cause. I absolutely did not want to, but he goaded me till I relented - the last thing I wanted was to lose him in the crowd.

So I scuttled over the fence and we marched along, or rather ambled because at this point most of the procession was at a standstill. Since we were far back it was hard to tell why it had stopped. We made our way further up through the various factions, the Migrant Workers, the National Farmers Union, European Farmers Coordination, and the Korean Farmers, and settled in behind … uh oh! Look out! The Korean Farmers broke rank behind us and charged ahead shoving and knocking their way to the front. And in between them and the front was little ol’ me. Some Korean guy pummeled me in the shoulder; people stumbled and fell. Before I was pushed further by the rushing mob, I forced my way through the mess to the side - it wasn’t easy. I was pissed. Really pissed. Yes, at Tony for talking me into it, and at myself for not sticking to my guns.

Shaken but not stirred (it was too interesting to stay mad), we watched from the sidelines. Even that was a bit hairy. You could see where the police had stopped the parade. Lots of action up there - we edged our way thru and saw a line of police facing a line of marchers. It was difficult to make out what was going on. Nothing too serious it seemed. The megaphones were busy with chatter against the police “you tell us to calm down, this is a peaceful march, yet you block our way to the convention center”. Over and over, rousing the crowd. Chanting “WTO! Go!” The momentum was building.

In front of us, the organizers started to wrap the bamboo pole banners together, and the marchers held them horizontal. They were making a long ramrod! Suddenly, in unison, they ran forward against the police barricade. From my vantage point it was a blob of people, and people snapping pictures of people snapping pictures. I held my camera as high as I could and snapped away.

Shortly, the mob broke up. Curious, I couldn’t stop myself from getting closer. The marchers had made some progress against the cops, and had broken through their line. A dozen or so police stumbled over to the sidewalk - they were visibly shaken - stunned expressions. The marchers fared worse having been squirted with pepper spray. Several of them were holding their faces, tears streaming, first aid on the sidelines was mainly dousing their eyes with water.

We stayed in this spot till it became too tight. Even on the sidewalk there was a crush people moving in both directions - I presume they went as far as the next barricade and turned back. Meantime, the marchers had circled around and came racing down a ramp from a side street straight towards a pool of about 50 cops. Right then the crowd started to bolt. I thought for sure this would be the big one. But the marchers parted the cops ranks like Moses did the Red Sea. The fresh-faced cadet cops let them rush straight through with no confrontation.

After this, it was late and we were concerned about getting out of the area. It seemed that all directions were blocked off. We headed towards Hennessy to hopefully catch a bus. The entire intersection, traffic both ways, was stopped. All buses, trams, taxis, cars had come to a standstill. The crowd was dwindling but chaos still reigned. Now, for unknown reasons, Tony was no longer concerned about the lateness and wanted to pursue more fun with mobs.

Down Hennessy, cops were gathering in a shelter; along the way they shuffled folks off the street, opening it up for traffic. We kept walking, and as we walked the atmosphere morphed back into the regular Hong Kong crunch. Public transport options were limited due to the blockage, so we hoofed it to the Admiralty station in Pacific Place. Down, down, down to the Island Line.

Yowsa! Humans were stuffing themselves into the MTR like sausage into a casing. They were squashed inside and spilling out the doors. The overhead loudspeaker kept repeating its message like a broken record because the doors couldn’t close, “Please stand back from the doors” beep beep beep, “Please stand back from the doors” beep beep beep, “Please stand back from the doors” beep beep beep, “Please stand back from the doors” beep beep beep.

Freaking, Tony cried out “I’m not getting on that!” I assured him that wasn’t our train, ours was on the other side, going to quiet Sheung Wan. See? No one there.

Ohmygod. The train pulled up, people were packed in and squeezed purple. The door slid open and hundreds tumbled out - all heading straight across to jam into the next Tseun Wan run. There were still hundreds on board, but we did find standing room without sharing intimacies with any passengers.

What would happen to this city in a true emergency? So dependent on public transport, it can be humbled by a simple protest march.

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