Police officers stand guard near tents set up by
pro-democracy protesters in the occupied area of the Mong
Kok district in Hong Kong Monday, Nov. 24, 2014. The
student-led democracy protesters reject restrictions laid
down by Beijing on inaugural...
The
Associated Press
Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday began clearing away
some barricades from part of a pro-democracy protest site in
Mong Kok district, scene of previous violent confrontations
with police and angry mobs.
Police were on hand to assist
bailiffs working under a court order to remove obstructions
from the site, which activists have occupied for nearly two
months. It said police are authorized to arrest anyone
obstructing the bailiffs.
Workers in white hard hats and
gloves moved wooden pallets and other junk into the middle
of an intersection to be taken away in a truck that pulled
up. Dozens of police and bailiffs watched the operation, and
there was no immediate resistance from protesters.
Protesters have been camped out on
major thoroughfares in three areas of Hong Kong since Sept.
28 demanding greater democracy. The standoff has continued
with no end in sight as neither the government nor the
student-led protesters have shown any willingness to
compromise.
A crowd of people supporting the
police clearance operation applauded from the sidelines.
Businessman Andrew Tang said he
travelled across Victoria Harbor to watch the barricade
removal. He said the protesters were not realistic in their
demands to China's communist rulers in Beijing and
miscalculated by not withdrawing earlier.
"The Communist Party will never
surrender," he said as he gave a thumbs up to the police.
Authorities last week started
enforcing court orders against protest sites. They removed
some barricades from the edge of the main protest area, next
to the city government headquarters, while protesters
offered little resistance.
The barricade clearances come at a
critical phase for the protest movement, as student leaders
run out of options, and public support and the number of
demonstrators dwindle.
More than 80 percent of 513 people
surveyed last week by Hong Kong University researchers said
the protesters should go home. The poll had a margin of
error of 4.4 percentage points. A separate survey by the
Chinese University of Hong Kong released days earlier found
about two-thirds of 1,030 respondents felt the same way.
The operation on Tuesday is being
carried out after Hong Kong's High Court granted a
restraining order to a minibus company requiring protesters
to leave one of the occupied Mong Kok streets. A separate
court order granted to taxi drivers to clear another Mong
Kok street is expected to be enforced on Wednesday.
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