On Sept 20, 1997, the World Bank and the IMF will hold their annual conference in the extravagant Hong Kong Convention Center.

With China as the the World Bank's largest borrower, where else could one find a more appropriate place for such an annual gathering of the global lords of finance than Hong Kong 1997--especially when their presence here is seen as a special vote of confidence by the world community at large in the newly born Hong Kong Special Administration Region.

However, apart from providing a fanfare of self-congratulation, the World Bank has very little, if anything, to do with Hong Kong. Even the crowd downtown has little knowledge of this particular institution, not to mention the 850,000 who live below the poverty line in a "World Class" financial center where there are scarcely any social benefits.

One might ask: Is this what they mean by the "East Asia economic miracle" or the "Effective State" that World Bank and its cronies admire so much?

To workers and peasants all over China, the policies of the World Bank and the IMF have serious ramifications. Lessons can be drawn from other countries that subscribe to the policies dictated by these two organizations.

The World Bank and the IMF are not simply about development: they incorporate a whole set of financial policies which pry open a nation's door to foreign capital, leaving the national industries powerless to defend themselves against the onslaught of the multinationals

The World Bank and the IMF do not eradicate poverty: they implement "Structural Adjustment Plans" that lead everywhere to the dismantling of economic infrastructure, the destruction of public services, and the proliferation of poverty

The World Bank and the IMF are basically anti-democratic in their nature: they handle their business in a narrow circle of closely connected officials, politicians, private-sector magnates and academics, while the people affected by these policies are all left out in the street, with no say whatsoever over their destiny.

If the World Bank and the IMF's prescriptive model of development means low wages, factory closures, massive retrenchment, a falling living standard, and bans on collective bargaining -- then it really means disaster for millions of people who may never have heard of the names of these institutions.

These policies which require the acceptance by all of sacrifices today in the name of an economic recovery tomorrow are leading to mass poverty in cities all over the world, to ever-longer dole queues, to hospitals deprived of the fiscal means to counter the resurgence of long-suppressed illnesses, and to question the continued existence of affordable public education.

The market domination of society only promotes the pursuit of profit, while democracy, human and environmental rights are all marginalized in the process

In the West, there was once a resounding battle cry from the working class: "Jobs before profits!"

Today, when the World Bank and the IMF assemble on Chinese soil, let's issue our own challenge:

"Human interests before corporate interests,"

"No, to the massive deregulation and privatization of public services," and

"Democratic control over international financial institutions!"