EU-Asia meeting; Hundreds clash with police

Hamburg, Germany, May 29: Thousands of anti-globalisation demonstrators marched through central Hamburg and hundreds clashed with police while protesting against a meeting of EU and Asian ministers.

Protesters errected barricades and police responded with water cannon and baton charges after being pelted with bottles and stones. A police officer and a female protester were hurt and 21 demonstrators arrested 30 detained, police said.

The clashes took place in an area of the city known as a hub of radical left-wing politics.

Earlier, around 4,000 protesters marched through the centre of the northern port city, as the ministers gathered at a hotel behind a wide cordon of police and barriers.

In a bilateral meeting with China, the European Union urged Beijing to open its markets to help redress a ''huge'' trade surplus with the bloc and called on it to ratify a key rights covenant that also covers labour rights.

Reuters>