HONG KONG, May 3 (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government is not worried about violent outbursts from Falun Gong members or anti-globalisation protesters at next week's Fortune Global Forum, the government's top business promoter said on Thursday.
"I'm not worried about the law and order situation in Hong Kong. We have an excellent police force and they're used to handling major demonstrations," said Mike Rowse, director general of Invest Hong Kong, the government department sponsoring the event.
The Fortune Global Forum, headlined by Chinese President Jiang Zemin, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer, is expected to draw more than 600 corporate CEOs and managing directors.
There has been no indication in local media that foreign demonstrators were headed for Hong Kong, but other major summits in recent years, ranging from last month's Summit of the Americas in Quebec to the 1999 Siege of Seattle, have been hit by violent protests.
The forum's major theme is "Next Generation Asia" with sessions on topics such as human rights and globalisation, China's development plans for its western provinces and future growth industries in Asia.
Jiang's visit on May 8 is expected to draw massive protests from local members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is banned in China but legal in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of the communist mainland since Britain pulled out in mid-1997.
Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa has been under pressure from Beijing to supress the group, which has been labelled an "evil cult" by Chinese leaders.
However, he would draw fierce international criticism if he stops legal assemblies by the group, especially since the government will market itself as an open and free international business center to conference participants.
The government's handling of Falun Gong protests could test the "one country, two systems" concept guaranteed by China which gave Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy for 50 years after the handover.
Falun Gong and other groups would be "free to demonstrate within the law," Rowse said. "I hope they will make their point in such a way that is compatible with the good order of the community."
He added that "appropriate security measures" would be taken, but declined to elaborate on them. He did, however, say that there would be some disruptions to traffic flows around the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The conference will cost the Hong Kong government about HK$9.7 million, with about HK$4.68 million (US$600,000) paid directly to Fortune, a publication of media giant AOL Time Warner, as a sponsorship fee, Rowse said.
07:22 05-03-01
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