World Trade Organization Protests in Hong Kong: Day 1

"We will continue to struggle because we want to survive. The WTO is trying to kill us," a speaker from Via Campesina, an international movement of peasants, announced to the crowd this morning.

After the rally at Victoria Park, the crowd of thousands marched through the shopping district of Causeway Bay towards the Wan Chai district and the site of the WTO conference. The mood was friendly. Crowds of local Hong Kong people lined the route, and demonstrators enthusiastically waved to them and passed out printed, multi-lingual information sheets about the WTO. The Korean delegation made an impression with their tight formation and elaborately choreographed chants and movements. Delegations sang, drummed, and shouted out their demands in Cantonese, Korean, English, Spanish, and Indonesian.