-Caveat Lector- http://english.hk.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/afp/article.html?s =hke/headlines/010509/world/afp/Clinton__Jiang_hold_private_talks_as_ Falungong_keep_up_protests.html Yahoo! Hong Kong - News World Wednesday, May 9 12:33 PM SGT Clinton, Jiang hold private talks as Falungong keep up protests HONG KONG, May 9 (AFP) - Former US president Bill Clinton is believed to have met with Chinese President Jiang Zemin for about an hour Wednesday as the Falungong spiritual group held a second day of peaceful protests at a global forum here. Journalists at the scene said Clinton's black BMW was among a six- strong motorcade which arrived at Jiang's Harbour Plaza hotel at 10:30 amamid a heavy police presence. Clinton departed at 11:45 am (0345 GMT), waving to the waiting press. But the meeting, which had been predicted by the Hong Kong press, could not immediately be officially confirmed. Washington has said Clinton is travelling as a private citizen, and would not be bearing any message from his Republican successor in the White House, George W. Bush. Earlier Jiang met with Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who left just before Clinton arrived. Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa was also seen driving off from the hotel. The Chinese-language Singtao daily said Tuesday that Jiang would urge Clinton -- whom he has met several times -- to work to improve bilateral ties which have plummeted since Bush's inauguration in January. Singtao said Jiang was expected to tell Clinton that China felt no animosity towards the US, despite deteriorating relations soured by a row over a collision between a Chinese fighter and a US spy plane, and Washington's decision to sell a huge arms package to Beijing's rival, Taiwan. Jiang was due to leave later Wednesday after a whirlwind 24-hour visit. Clinton will close the conference on Thursday. Police maintained a heavy presence across Hong Kong Wednesday to deter any dissent, particularly from the Falungong spiritual group whose members were again out in their hundreds performing peaceful meditation exercises. Protests against China's ban of the Buddhist-inspired group, composed mainly of middle-aged women, continued at five spots across Hong Kong. However, there were no early morning demonstrations at police- designated protest areas near the Convention and Exhibition Centre in waterfront Wanchai on the second day of the Fortune Global Forum. Police spokesman Charles Wong defended the tight police security, saying of 23 protests Tuesday, all but one were peaceful. "From the figures from yesterday (Tuesday) I think it is very obvious that we are very successful in our negotiations with the groups to try to balance their needs," he told Hong Kong radio. He praised officers for showing restraint, adding some had been injured in the line of duty. "Several officers were injured," he said. "Our officers are being hit and punched, yes. In one incident an officer's teeth were knocked out by a punch to the face. "But they have been very unobstrusive and restrained." More than 100 Falungong practioners have been barred entry to the territory ahead of the forum -- a three-day invitation only event where world business leaders are focusing on the theme "Next Generation Asia." But Hong Kong's chief secretary for administration Donald Tsang insisted the territory had the right to bar "undesirable elements". "Some balance has to be struck so that the interests of the people in Hong Kong is not undermined by undesirable elements," he said. "We talk to the US and UK consulate-generals regularly and I am sure we will explain our position satisfactorily." Meanwhile, Wanchai police station Tuesday was beseiged after a pro- democracy activist apparently tried to commit suicide. Police later confirmed one man stabbed himself with a ballpoint pen while in custody. At the forum, overshadowed by events outside the arena, corporate heavyweights such as Yahoo head Jerry Yang and AOL Time Warner chief executive officer Gerry Levin locked horns on ways to shape the strategies that will move world business in the future. -- Best wishes Woolybooger for the day: We can't be so fixated on our desire to preserve the rights of ordinary Americans ... -Bill Clinton (USA TODAY, 11 March 1993, page 2A) <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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