THE VIEW FROM THE SIDELINES
The mood at police headquarters and on the front lines is one of cautious optimism after their initial engagements with protesting Korean peasants and the WTO.
With the two crucial final days to come, police and security sources expressed confidence that the troubled trade talks could end relatively peacefully - from a security standpoint at least.
'So far, so good, that is the message,' one senior officer said. 'Even though today could prove the toughest yet, we reckon Hong Kong will get through this whole event without seeing the mayhem many of us feared.'
And while officers insist that the threat was - and remains - real, they point to a string of factors in their favour.
First, intensive preparations have paid off, particularly in ensuring adequate intelligence and communication internally as well as excellent co-operation from the public, which has generally avoided Wan Chai and key routes at important times.
Then there has been the protesters themselves. The number of hardline activists is not as large as was first thought - despite the presence of 1,500 Koreans - with European anarchists so far notable by their absence.
