HONG KONG, May 4 (Reuters) - Hong Kong police, seeking to avoid the violent protests that have disrupted recent world financial summits, said on Friday they would throw a tight security cordon around a meeting of top business and government leaders next week.
The three-day Fortune Global Forum will feature Chinese President Jiang Zemin, former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer. It is expected to draw more than 600 CEOs and managing directors.
Jiang will make a keynote address to mark the opening of the event at the Hong Kong convention centre on May 8.
Police will deploy 3,000 officers to handle security, compared with 2,000 during the handover ceremony in July 1997 when the former British colony was returned to Chinese rule, assistant commissioner Cheung Chi-shum told a news conference.
Protesters would be kept a few hundred metres (yards) away from the guests, police said.
Jiang's visit is expected to draw large protests from members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which is outlawed in mainland China but remains legal in Hong Kong.
Many political observers say the handling of the Falun Gong protests could be a key test of China's guarantee of a high degree of autonomy for the territory for 50 years after the handover.
Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa has been under pressure from Beijing to curb the group, which has been labelled an "evil cult" by Chinese leaders.
Tung last week issued his sternest warning yet, accusing Falun Gong members of damaging Hong Kong interests with its planned protest during Jiang's stay.
Cheung justified the heavy police presence, citing violent protests that had marred other global gatherings including last month's Summit of the Americas in Quebec and world trade talks in Seattle in 1999.
However, police intelligence reports indicated Hong Kong was unlikely to witness similar violence, Cheung said.
Police said they would allow peaceful demonstrations as long as they were legal and did not pose a danger to others.
Police said they had received protest applications from five different groups including Falun Gong, the environmental group Greenpeace and mainland activists lobbying for Hong Kong residency.
A leader of the Falun Gong said he expected over 200 people to attend the protest.
05:06 05-04-01
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