HONG KONG, Dec 5: Worried by violent protests at international meetings from Argentina to South Korea, security officials in Hong Kong are preparing to batten down the hatches for the World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting here this month.

Some 9,000 police officers will be deployed for around-the-clock duties, schools and businesses near the meeting venue will either be closed or asked to step up security and the land and water area surrounding the harbour-front venue will be sealed off.

The government is taking no chances with any possible violence at the 6th Ministerial Conference of the WTO to be held here on Dec 13-18.

With at least 10,000 local and overseas protesters expected to descend on the Chinese territory during the summit, police said they were well prepared to deal with any possible scenarios.

“This is the largest operation ever for the police. We have invested a huge amount of resources in this in the past 18 months,” said Alfred Ma, chief superintendent of police public relations.

“We’ve done very detailed planning to cover each area and we are prepared for the worst. It’s a high manpowered intensive operation,” he said.

Since Hong Kong was selected last year to host the bi-annual meeting, officers have been gathering intelligence and consulting overseas law enforcement agencies on how to prepare for potential chaos.

They have observed police tactics, security arrangements and clashes between anti-globalisation groups and police during international political gatherings such as the Group of Eight meeting in Edinburgh in the summer and last month’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea.

Hong Kong authorities are trying to avoid the scenes of rioting and clashes with police that marred the Summit of the Americas at Mar Del Plata in Argentina last month.

“Our assessment of public risk is high because of the past history. Some degree of violence will be used in public activities and some individual protesters may make drastic actions,” Ma said.

“We expect direct confrontation with the police line and people with offensive weapons,” he said.

Hong Kong officials see the WTO gathering as an opportunity to put the city on the map following its emergence from almost a decade of economic recession and the crippling SARS outbreak of 2003.—AFP