Protests against widening income disparity took place across the Asia-Pacific region today
Protests against widening income disparity took place across the Asia-Pacific region today as demonstrators organizing via social media from Tokyo to Sydney joined London in the Occupy Wall Street movement.
In Hong Kong, about 200 people gathered at the Exchange Square Podium in the city’s central shopping and business district, according to Napo Wong, an organizer.
Protesters will camp indefinitely “to organize, discuss and build a movement for a different world, not run by the super-rich 1%,” according to a statement on the Occupy Sydney website.
In Tokyo, where morning rain may have deterred some from joining three planned protests, more than 120 people demanding an end to nuclear power generation marched from Hibiya Park to the offices of Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of a crippled plant that’s spewed radiation, causing the evacuation of thousands after Japan’s March 11 earthquake.
More than 700 demonstrators in New York have been arrested since the protests began, mostly on disorderly conduct charges. Police reported 14 arrests yesterday for infractions such as sitting in the street and overturning trash bins.
Today, demonstrators in New York plan to gather in Times Square at 5 p.m. local time to participate in a “global day of action against Wall Street greed,” according to . Other events include a rally against the war in Afghanistan, a student rally in Washington Square Park and a gathering at a local branch of JPMorgan Chase & Co. to close accounts en masse and transfer money to worker-owned banks and credit unions.
Check out www.occupywallst.org for your updates!