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Article: Hanoi in near lockdown to secure city for APEC
- Article from:
- China Daily
- Article date:
- November 18, 2006
CopyrightCopyright 2006 China Daily. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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HANOI: They've been told not to gather on the street, not to
unlock their second-floor windows, and not to open their shops. Life
has turned into a security straitjacket for neighbours of Hanoi's
glitzy hotels as Asia-Pacific leaders pile into one of the world's
safest cities.
The charm that usually surrounds Hanoi's wide, tree-lined streets
has been replaced by barricades, sirens and water cannons ahead of
the arrival of some of the world's most powerful heads of state for
this weekend's Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum.
It's the biggest event Viet Nam has ever hosted and is a chance
for it to shed its war- and poverty-shaped image. Hanoi cannot afford
for anything to go wrong, and ...