A reflection after participating in the anti-WTO Rally in Hong Kong

Kim Kyeong Hee rscj

Candlelight assembly

Anti-WTO Peaceful March

After the Forum

Visiting an organic farm

Delivering a flower

Mass

From the 12th to 19th of December, 2005, I went to Hong Kong to participate in the Anti-WTO demonstrations organized by Korean Catholic Farmer’s Movement (KCFM – an association) and Catholic Urban Ministers. I joined the group as a representative of the Division of Social Ministry of the Major Superiors Association of Women Religious in Korea. The purpose of the trip was to protest against the myth of WTO that free trade and globalization are the only hope for the world. The Korean government propagated this myth at the expense of the 3.5 million farmers and 8.5 million non-regular employees in Korea, and we wanted to express the “other” voice silenced by this government measure. Over 100 participants from the KCFM stayed at small rooms at the Grand Hotel.

The delegation from the KCFM formed the Anti-WTO Catholic Solidarity together with International Movement of Catholic Students Asia Pacific, International Catholic Movement for Intellectual and Cultural Affairs, and International Federation of Rural Adult Catholic Movements (FIMARC) and International Movement of Catholic Agricultural and Rural Youth ( MIJARC ). This Catholic Solidarity carried on a variety of activities expressing our stance as to why we oppose the WTO. We pointed out that the government ministers and delegates at the WTO meeting were not at all interested in the poor, workers and farmers, but only concerned about the interests of the powerful countries and multinational businesses. Since we knew that the survival of the 1.3 billion people who subsist through agricultural labor depended on the outcome of the WTO meeting and that their very livelihood is threatened by the competitive logic of this international organization, we hoped that the meeting would come to nothing. We wanted to make clear that people’s right to life, their livelihood, and food are not commodities for international trade. But unlike the ministers seated within the Convention Center, the farmers and workers outside had no other means to voice their opinions except going out on the streets. The cries on the Hong Kong streets were not merely those of the Korean farmers. There were other protesters representing the voices of the landless agricultural laborers, the young people and workers who wanted to protect their educational means and public services, the environmentalists that resist the destruction of ecological system, the aboriginal people asserting their rights to self-rule over natural resources, and the migrant workers demanding their rights to work. There were also the voices of the Free Trade Association of America (FTAA).

The WTO and the neo-liberalistic system, however, aim to stifle the voices of the people and truth. Hong Kong was no exception. The WTO and the Hong Kong government tried to contain the voices of the protesters within the police line. We tried to approach the Convention Center and to communicate our demands to the delegates. For this after having an opening event at Victoria Park on Dec. 13th we marched towards the Convention Center. About 100 farmers jumped into the Hong Kong harbor to swim towards the meeting place. On the 14th, some participants made their way through the street again making a bow after every three steps.

Apart from participating in the peaceful marches and street propaganda, the members of Korean Catholic Farmers Association performed a series of alternative actions for life: a Forum of Solidarity among International Catholic Farmers and Consumers, and Students (at Victoria Park on Dec. 13th); a visit to the organic farm (in the afternoon of the 14th) sponsored by Catholic Labor Ministry Commission; a Forum of Farmers and Workers (The Star of the Sea Parish Center, Dec 14th) sponsored by Hong Kong Catholic Labour Ministry, Migrant Workers Commission, and Hong Kong Catholics; the International Catholic Farmers Forum for the Preservation of Food Sovereignty (Rosario Parish Center, Afternoon of the 16th); the Outdoor Mass on the 17th; the Peace March from Victoria Park to the Convention Center. Through these events we tried our best to let Hong Kong Catholics and citizens at large know why we oppose the WTO. In particular, the Korean Catholic Farmers Association made a proposal to the international delegates of FIMARC and MIJARC, a Proposal for Campaign towards the International Convention of the Diversity of Food-Agriculture.

At 1:30 p.m. on the 17th, the day before the closing of the meeting, we celebrated a Mass for Peace at Victoria Park, followed by a peaceful march towards the Convention Center. The participants carried yellow balloons and flowers. We let the balloons go carrying the sign that stand for the WTO that ignores the God-given rights to food and agriculture, and we handed the flowers to the police on guard.

While we were having a peaceful meeting in front of the Convention Center, the other protesters from the Korean National Farmers Organization were having their meeting followed by a march. Around 4 p.m., the Hong Kong police tried to block the progress of the farmers by force. The demonstrators in return used sticks to make their way. After the exchange of sticks, teargas and rubber bullets, the Hong Kong police made a public announcement accusing the demonstrators of being a violent mob.

On the 18th, as many as 1,050 farmers were arrested while the delegates at the WTO agreed upon their manifesto which showed no improvement of the matters concerned. The announcement included the plan for the meeting to be held in Geneva in April, thus upholding the continuation of the international, multilateral negotiations. However, the Korean farmers and the little prophets that aim to reclaim the rights to life of the world’s common people will continue to block the progress of the WTO.

I earnestly request the RSCJs, the members of our international Society, who read this report to pray for the reign of God, for a just and peaceful world so that the WTO may be stopped, and the neo-liberalistic trade system that allows the rich to get richer while the poor get poorer, may finally be stopped, and that an agreement to allow diversity regarding food and agricultural policies may be put in place, and that the people of the world may have access to their daily bread in peace.

Some reflections based on biblical reading

On the experience on the street on the evening of the 17th, before the arrest:
After completing our peaceful march, we were waiting for the other farmers to join us. As their arrival was delayed we were going to look for them. While we were making our way, the Hong Kong citizens on the sides of the streets were chanting anti-WTO slogans.  Suddenly the police blocked our progress. Then all of a sudden the Hong Kong citizens who were marching with us, formed a human wall between us and the police. They were shouting “Down, Down, WTO!” in Korean, in English, in Chinese and some shouted “Don’t arrest Koreans!” At that moment I was reminded of the Exodus passage about the column of fire and the column of cloud that protected the Israelites as they were fleeing from Egypt (Ex. 14, 19-20). The Hong Kong people who stood around us made me think of the people of Egypt who may also have protected the people of Israel from the powers of the soldiers.

On the 17th, when the police allowed us to move, we reached the place where the Korean farmers were gathered. The place was blocked on all side by tall buildings. The Catholic farmers were not dressed for the cold night, but we were not allowed to return to our boarding quarters. Even the access to the public toilet was blocked. Next to us were hundreds of Thai people. Negotiations with the police reached an impasse. We knew we were to be arrested. At 3:00 a.m. the arrests started. The men allowed the women to go first so that at least the women could get indoors. We arrived at the jail in 15 minutes, but we had to wait an hour and half before we got off the police vehicle. Our passports were taken from us, we were handcuffed before we were allowed to go to the toilet. With the help of a Korean translator, we signed some papers. Each one of us had an individual picture taken and one with the police who was charge of each one of us. After our fingerprints were taken, we were handcuffed, including each “sinner’ s” number in a wrist lock. While waiting, the men demonstrators arrived and they went through the same procedures. Around ten o’clock, we were finally allowed to sit down on a concrete bed within a jail room.

The whole process reminded me of Jesus who was arrested although he did nothing wrong. The farmers were proclaiming: “Let’s look for alternative ways! The WTO is not the way to life but to death!” Those who wanted to claim their rights to agriculture were branded as violent mobs by the police.  Meanwhile the press did not look carefully into all that transpired.

At that moment I came to understand Jesus’s claim that he is in “the least of the people.”(Mt. 25, 40)  I felt it an honour to share with the farmers in this humiliation. We had left our boarding quarters on Dec. 17th to attend a Mass and we were only able to return on the 19th.  The bishop of Hong Kong, Jospeh Ze-kiun, welcomed us as we came out of the jail.

Sharing from Rev. Andrew Kim Yong Jae, K.M.S.
Fr. Kim came to Hong Kong five years ago. He is now the Assistant Parish Priest of the Star of the Sea Church. Since 17 December 2005, Fr. Kim has been helping with translations, accompanying the Korean Catholic farmers and taking care of their needs in HK.

Thanks God! ……This time I have been in person with the Catholic farmers and understand how difficult their life is. This experience made me more concerned about the WTO policies and the impact of Globalization. I thank for their help the citizens of Hong Kong, Bishop Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese, the Hong Kong Catholic Commission For Labour Affairs and other Catholic sisters and brothers. The Korean Government ignored its people. Instead, it was the Bishop and people of Hong Kong who visited the arrested farmers and expressed the love of God. They came to protest in Hong Kong not only for themselves, but also for justice. They showed the message of God that every individual can enjoy the resources of our world, which is given by God. This again reminded me of the identity and mission of being a Christian.
Though the parish work has been very busy, I am very pleased to give them support and comfort. I see the presence of God in them.