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 About 30 court bailiffs arrived at the 33-storey Citic Tower in
Admiralty, next to government buildings, to enforce an injunction
against street barricades after a request from the building's
owners, witnesses said.
Authorities stood by as workers used cutters to remove barricades.
Police and said the building's owners had hired people to carry out
the clearance.
"We will proceed on the principle of peace and non-violence," said
Joshua Wong, head of Scholarism, one of two student groups leading
the protests.
"We are not looking for an argument with the police. If they clear
the road outside the car park we will accept that. If they clear
other areas it will be very disappointing."
 Some protesters packed up pillows, blankets and other belongings
from inside their tents and moved to another part of the
demonstration zone.
Others helped remove barricades themselves, saying they would rather
keep the fence sections to use elsewhere rather than see them carted
away.
"Our plan is to do nothing and just observe," said protester Gary
Yeung, 25. "The pre-agreed area is fine. Anything beyond that is
not. It's a peaceful protest so we won't fight back."
The area near Citic Tower, headquarters of CITIC Pacific Ltd., has
been surrounded by metal barricades, disrupting commuters heading to
the Central business district nearby.
Scores of colorful tents dot the area that is home to some of the
world's most expensive real estate.
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The former British colony of Hong Kong returned to Chinese rule in
1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that gives the city
more autonomy and freedom than the mainland with the goal of
universal suffrage.
The protesters are demanding open nominations in the city's next
election for chief executive in 2017. Beijing has said it will allow
a vote in 2017, but only between pre-screened candidates.
A similar injunction has been issued for a street in the gritty
district of Mong Kok, another protest site across the harbor from
Admiralty that has seen some of the most violent clashes over the
past seven weeks. It was not clear when authorities would enforce
that order.
(Reporting By Clare Baldwin, Yimou Lee, Amanda Lee and Diana Chan,
Writing by Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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