PATTAYA, Thailand — Anti-government demonstrators derailed Asia’s most important multilateral summit Saturday, invading the conference center in this Thai resort town and forcing the cancellation of the bulk of the three-day meeting.
The Thai government used helicopters to evacuate the foreign leaders, who were in a nearby hotel. The government declared a state of emergency after hundreds of red-shirted protesters broke through lines of police and military guards and smashed through doors to reach the heart of the conference center.
The protesters were demanding the resignation of the 4-month-old government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. Abhisit came to power in a controversial parliamentary vote in December, a route his opponents say bypassed the democratic process.
The authorities were forced to rely on the goodwill of the protesters and a thin chain padlocked around the handles of the hotel’s glass doors to protect the leaders inside before the evacuation.
The Pattaya summit was supposed to bring together the leaders of the 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, and Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
The agenda was dominated by the international financial crisis, but leaders had planned to sign an important ASEAN-China agreement on investment, and China, Japan and South Korea were due to discuss North Korea’s recent rocket test.
The annual meetings are almost the only time that Asian leaders gather without leaders from the United States or Europe.
