Mingling with corporate bosses and shielded by a massive police force from protesters outside, Chinese President Jiang Zemin (
Jiang did not specifically mention Falun Gong, the meditation sect he is trying to eradicate in China but which remains legal in Hong Kong and is demonstrating against Beijing's suppression as Jiang appears at the three-day Fortune Global Forum.
The conference, also featuring former US president Bill Clinton, was shadowed by controversy when Hong Kong apparently tried to mute Falun Gong protests by barring more than 100 overseas members from entering the territory.
Falun Gong spokeswoman Sharon Xu attacked the "pure discrimination against Falun Gong practitioners" who were kept away from demonstrations yesterday where the meditation sect accused Beijing of the torture-killings of 202 followers in Chinese custody.
Jiang gave the keynote address at an opening dinner and claimed "Hong Kong residents have enjoyed full freedoms" since the former British colony was returned to China nearly four years ago.
Hong Kong will continue to enjoy a great deal of autonomy under a government arrangement dubbed "one country, two systems," Jiang said, then he took aim at the voices of dissent.
"There are still in this world a few interest groups which always want to seek gains by creating tension here and there," Jiang said. "This is against the will of the majority of the people and against the trends of the times."
As Jiang spoke, dozens of pro-democracy protesters scuffled with authorities outside and chanted that Jiang should resign. The police vastly outnumbered the activists, who were kept at a distance from the venue. During one clash, a veteran Hong Kong demonstrator, Lui Yuk-lin, was arrested and carried away amid a sea of green police uniforms.
Dozens of activists marched to a nearby police station, demanding her release as they waved a big papier-mache Jiang head on a stick.
Falun Gong spokesman Kan Hung-cheung said more than 100 followers of the sect have been barred from Hong Kong over the past several days.
Other demonstrations have also jumped on the protest bandwagon while Jiang is visiting.
"We want the Hong Kong government to thoroughly check imports of Thai pork," said Fung Kin-chung, secretary-general of the Hong Kong Livestock Industry Association. Fung plans to lead some 700 pork farmers in a protest during Jiang's stay.
Making her voice heard opposite the downtown conference venue was Ma Yuk-lan, 70, who goes by her Moslem name Aishah. Ma is at odds with the Hong Kong government, which wants to move her six-storey tall date palm tree to make way for a public road project.
"This is a present from Allah, I don't want to lose it," said Ma, who has tended to the tree for the last 50 years. "I hope Jiang Zemin can help me so they will not take it away."
Jiang's visit also drew pro-democracy activists, who called for an end to communist China's one-party rule and the release of political detainees on the mainland.
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