Six months ago, Hong Kong had a potentially close brush with disaster. Out of the dark in the Ma Wan Channel, a boat carrying Greenpeace 'activists' steered directly towards the USS Blue Ridge, command vessel of an American battle group. This was not very intelligent. Three years earlier in Aden, a small boat sneaked alongside the USS Cole and exploded a huge suicide bomb, killing 19 sailors.
The publicity-ravenous eco-hoodlums of Greenpeace must have known strict security was in force around the ship in Hong Kong in February. That's no problem for these self-righteous 'campaigners' for any fashionable issue that will get them headlines and, hopefully, an increase in public donations.
Sure enough, as the chartered boat got close to the warship, it was warned off. The whole point of this exercise was to garner publicity. On a second boat laid on by the 'activists' was a media contingent, which obligingly recorded the latest Greenpeace stupidity.
Police launched an inquiry. They compiled a report into events surrounding the intrusion into a zone around an anchored vessel, an offence under maritime regulations. The report went to the director of prosecution who, so they say, has 'carefully considered' the file. He's come to the conclusion that there's no reasonable prospect of getting a conviction. So he's backed off.
Once again, Greenpeace escapes paying the consequence of a reckless action.The group's website makes no pretext. If you give money every month, you get a T-shirt, quarterly newsletter and a copy of the annual report. Big deal. Give $500 or more and they invite you to their annual reception. What fun.
The slick electronic begging page advises you can make donations online with credit cards or download donation forms. But it seems serious environmentalists are getting weary of Greenpeace behaviour. As long ago as 1997, there were reports that donations were flagging. In the United States, Greenpeace USA had to cut its staff from 600 to 45 as many people decided not to support the organisation. Serious ecologists were waking up to them.
