{"id":29918,"date":"2023-11-16T12:22:04","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T20:22:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=29918"},"modified":"2023-11-16T12:22:04","modified_gmt":"2023-11-16T20:22:04","slug":"with-apec-in-full-swing-sf-protestors-out-in-full-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/11\/16\/with-apec-in-full-swing-sf-protestors-out-in-full-force\/","title":{"rendered":"With APEC in full swing, SF protestors out in full force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Natalia%20Gurevich\">By Natalia Gurevich | Examiner staff writer |<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nov 16, 2023\u00a0Updated\u00a02 hrs ago  (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/0\/dd\/0ddaa94c-8403-11ee-b1da-dfcfa5f0bf92\/6555409ab2a59.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"Tibetan demonstrators marching on Market Street by Third Street\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Tibetan demonstrators march on Market Street by Third Street in San Francisco on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/the-latest-on-the-apec-summitt\/collection_c74b85d8-7f47-11ee-ad1d-4b8498747635.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">APEC summit<\/a>&nbsp;was in full swing in San Francisco on Wednesday, and its protestors were out in full force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/why-joe-biden-xi-jinping-apec-meeting-is-far-outside-of-sf\/article_ee819972-b92c-5a45-bfb8-dd0729a8d94b.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">U.S. President Joe Biden<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/ap\/politics\/where-joe-biden-xi-jinping-will-meet-instead-of-sf-for-apec\/article_8bc409e4-e6ed-5a6f-918d-a749ab550f25.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met on Wednesday<\/a>, which also marked the first day of the forum\u2019s CEO Summit, as demonstrators gathered en masse across The City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The No to APEC Coalition, a bloc of 150 organizations opposed to the 21 member economies\u2019 partnerships, began gathering at Powell Street Station around 7 a.m. in an effort to disrupt attendees\u2019 entry into the CEO Summit. A protest of Xi\u2019s arrival in San Francisco began outside of the Chinese Consulate General at 9:30 a.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both groups sought to bring attention to the issues and interests that drive them: climate change and anti-imperialism, among others, in the case of the No to APEC Coalition; and China\u2019s human-rights record in the case of activists gathered outside of the consulate building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNations and corporations are deciding the fate of 40% of the world economy with zero input from people who are impacted by this decision,\u201d said Ilonka, a No to APEC demonstrator who declined to provide her last name to The Examiner. \u201cThis is a deeply undemocratic process that is not ratified by any elected official and then does not include the voices of people most impacted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-37.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29922\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Protestors gather at the intersection of 5th and Mission streets in San Francisco on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023.Natalia Gurevich\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Demonstrators with the coalition ultimately made their way over to 5th and Mission streets and set up human blockades along the roads and sidewalks to prevent summit attendees from crossing the intersection. No to APEC organizer Rhonda Ramiro, said other affiliated groups gathered at intersections near Moscone Center with the stated goal of \u201cpreventing them from going in and shutting down their deals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Credentialed attendees who attempted to cross the 5th and Mission intersection were met with boos, chants of \u201cshame!\u201d and calls to \u201cgo around!\u201d from the protestors. Most turned around and left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police said one attendee, 40-year-old San Francisco resident Michael Davies, made physical contact with a woman amid an altercation with protestors. Her head struck one of the metal gates erected around Moscone Center, bloodying her mouth, according to an eyewitness who spoke with The Examiner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-34.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29919\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco police arrest an unidentified APEC attendee who allegedly made physical contact with a woman amid an altercation with protestors on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023 near the intersection of 5th and Mission streets.Natalia Gurevich\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-36.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29921\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">San Francisco police look on APEC demonstrations on Market Street and Third Street in San Francisco on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023. Chief Bill Scott said last week the department was fully prepared for the spate of protestors near the event.Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The woman told police she briefly blacked out, feeling pain in her jaw as she came to and bled profusely from her mouth. She was taken away for medical treatment. Police arrested Davies, taking him to San Francisco County Jail for aggravated assault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/the-city\/sfpd-says-apec-getting-special-national-security-treatment\/article_d27755c0-7e6d-11ee-ad47-bfe0befac124.html\" target=\"_blank\">Security around Moscone Center was heightened<\/a>\u00a0in anticipation of the protests, with black metal gates keeping demonstrators out of the conference zone. The San Francisco Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and the San Francisco Sheriff\u2019s Department worked under the direction of the U.S. Secret Service as part of The City\u2019s first National Security Special Event. San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said last week the department was \u201cprepared to take action\u201d in the event of violence or property damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s No to APEC protest was otherwise peaceful as it petered out before the afternoon, with the coalition\u2019s wide-ranging interests reflected in demonstrators\u2019 motivations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI have just seen The City being suspiciously cleaned up just in time for the world\u2019s greatest meeting of supervillains that we\u2019ve seen in a long time,\u201d said Ian Hewitt, a mental health counselor with Service Employees International Union 1021. \u201cWe\u2019re all kind of taking a break from committing or condoning cheerleading war crimes to sell out workers and the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Loa Niumeitolu said she was protesting on behalf of smaller nations such as Fiji, Tahiti and the Cook Islands, that can attend the summit as \u201cobservers\u201d rather than full-fledged member economies.&nbsp;She preferred placing the countries under the \u201cPasifika\u201d umbrella, rather than the blanket Asian American Pacific Islander label that she said was \u201ca colonial term that we did not choose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Smaller islands deserve&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/business\/apec-business-leaders-say-these-issues-are-regions-most-pressing\/article_b408efcc-8340-11ee-87ae-0b95d1180089.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a seat at the table<\/a>, too, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe idea is because our islands are too small to be represented, we have to go underneath all the large Asian and Latin countries,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are sovereign people with self-determination, and we should be represented.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The concurrent Chinese consulate protest \u2014 organized by the Hong Kong Democracy Council, Students for a Free Tibet, and the Uyghur American Association \u2014 centered on the policies of the People\u2019s Republic of China in Hong Kong, Tibet and East Turkestan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe want to alert the world and remind the world about the atrocious crimes committed by Xi Jinping, including the millions of Uyghurs that have been put into concentration camps, the thousands and hundreds of Tibetan children forced into boarding schools, and 1,700 political prisoners in Hong Kong,\u201d said Anna Kwok, the executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"4\" height=\"3\" src=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-38.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-29923\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Demonstrators march on Market Street past 3rd Street on Wednesday. A number of groups gathered outside the Chinese Consulate in protest of President Xi Jinping\u2019s arrival at APEC.Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Kwok said she worried about the consulate protest \u201cgetting lost in the shuffle\u201d on Wednesday, but she said the Biden-Xi meeting will help their cause remain in the spotlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe world will be waiting for the results and the updates from these talks, and when the world talks about it, they also have to pay note to what we\u2019re demanding,\u201d she said of the talks, which took place Wednesday in Woodside. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Chinese diplomats sought to hold the meeting in a place where&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/why-joe-biden-xi-jinping-apec-meeting-is-far-outside-of-sf\/article_ee819972-b92c-5a45-bfb8-dd0729a8d94b.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Xi wouldn\u2019t see protestors<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Wednesday\u2019s demonstrations followed protests in the leadup to APEC, most notably from pro-Palestinian organizers. Hundreds gathered outside of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/politics\/joe-biden-kamala-harris-sf-event-rakes-in-3m-protestors\/article_b7400696-83de-11ee-876e-a77d19b6b1d4.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Biden\u2019s Financial District fundraiser<\/a>&nbsp;Tuesday night, many of whom carried signs calling for a cease-fire in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/news\/bay-area-news\/fears-for-families-in-israel-hamas-war-grips-bay-area-locals\/article_795e1392-7dc9-11ee-ab57-bb6d6776c330.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the ongoing Israel-Hamas war<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suzanne Ali, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, said her group\u2019s opposition to APEC dovetailed with that of Israel\u2019s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, arguing that \u201cagreements that are made in forums like APEC (are) used in a way that is oppressive and exploitative of people globally.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The&nbsp;APEC summit&nbsp;was in full swing in San Francisco on Wednesday, and its protestors were out in full force. U.S. President Joe Biden&nbsp;and&nbsp;Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met on Wednesday, which also marked the first day of the forum\u2019s CEO Summit, as demonstrators gathered en masse across The City. The No to&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/11\/16\/with-apec-in-full-swing-sf-protestors-out-in-full-force\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1427],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29918"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29918"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29918\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29926,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29918\/revisions\/29926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}