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 The operation in the gritty and congested Mong Kok district,
across the harbor from the heart of the civil disobedience movement
near government headquarters, came while many protesters were asleep
in dozens of tents or beneath giant, blue-striped tarpaulin sheets.
The raid was a gamble for the 28,000-strong police force in the
Chinese-controlled city who have come under criticism for aggressive
clearance operations with tear gas and baton charges and for the
beating of a handcuffed protester on Wednesday.
Storming into the intersection with helmets, riot shields and batons
at the ready from four directions, the 800 officers caught the
protesters by surprise. Many retreated without resisting.
"The Hong Kong government's despicable clearance here will cause
another wave of citizen protests," said radio talk-show host and
activist Wong Yeung-tat, who wore protective goggles over his
white-rimmed glasses and sported a boxer's sparring pad as a shield.
The protesters, led by a restive generation of students, have been
demanding China's Communist Party rulers live up to constitutional
promises to grant full democracy to the former British colony which
returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
The police sweep of the protest camp had been expected for several
days. It reduced the number of protest sites that have paralyzed
parts of the Asian financial hub since September 28, but could
rekindle defiance.
"We have urged protesters to maintain a kind of floating protest
strategy to guard the streets," said Wong, flanked by protesters who
stared down advancing lines of uniformed police.
Police gave a short warning on loud hailers before moving in
although no direct force was used, witnesses said.
Calm returned through the rest of Friday though the number of
protesters was expected to swell at the main protest site, in the
central Admiralty district, as students finish classes for the week.
"Here is the base of the resistance," media magnate Jimmy Lai told
Reuters, referring to Admiralty.
"If they want to quit here they have to arrest people. I think this
will be the end game," said Lai, an outspoken critic of Beijing who
has backed pro-democracy activists through his publications and
donations.
In August, Beijing offered Hong Kong people the chance to vote for
their own leader in 2017, but said only two to three candidates
could run after getting backing from a 1,200-person "nominating
committee" stacked with Beijing loyalists.
The protesters decry this as "fake" Chinese-style democracy and
demand Beijing allow open nominations.
The raid came less than 24 hours after Hong Kong leader Leung
Chun-ying proposed talks next week with student leaders.
Barry Smith, one of several senior British police chiefs - a legacy
of the pre-1997 Royal Hong Kong Police - commanding the operation,
described it as "fairly peaceful". About 800 officers were involved,
he said, and no arrests were made. There were no reports of
injuries.
"We decided it's time to give the public the right of way, to get
the roads back and get access to pedestrians," said Smith as he
paced about the area, directing front-line officers.
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LITTLE WARNING
Yellow dump trucks with pneumatic backhoes and claws later cleared
away smashed wooden pallets, garbage cans, ripped tents and metal
barricades, while the scattered belongings of protesters were loaded
on to trucks.
Cleaners ripped down democracy posters and notes pasted on walls and
street signs, and used cleaning fluid and razors to scrape away
stickers on the windows of an HSBC bank.
Some protesters tried to save some of the protest art that has
appeared across protest zones.
"These drawings represent the voice of the people. We must try to
preserve them and I hope in future they establish a democracy
museum," one said.
Police said they would allow protesters to occupy a section of the
heavily trafficked Nathan Road, which leads down to the harbor, with
the famous view of Hong Kong Island opposite.
Earlier this week, police had used sledge-hammers and chainsaws to
tear down concrete, metal and bamboo barricades to reopen a major
road feeding the Central business district.
Despite the clearances, about 1,000 protesters remained camped on
Hong Kong Island in a sea of tents and umbrellas on an eight-lane
highway beneath skyscrapers.
Leung has said there is "zero chance" Beijing will give in to
protesters' demands, a view shared by many observers and Hong Kong
citizens. He has also refused to step down.
The Hong Kong Association of Banks called on Friday for an end to
help Hong Kong preserve its competitiveness and maintain investor
confidence.
At the peak of the protests, 100,000 had been on the streets,
presenting Beijing with one of its biggest political challenges
since it crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in and around
Tiananmen Square in the Chinese capital in 1989.
Those numbers have dwindled significantly.
China rules Hong Kong under a "one country, two systems" formula
that gives the city wide-ranging autonomy and freedoms not enjoyed
in mainland China, with "universal suffrage" stated as the eventual
aim.
It is concerned calls for democracy in Hong Kong, and in the
neighboring former Portuguese colony of Macau, could spread to the
mainland, threatening the party's grip on power.
(Additional reporting by Bobby Yip, Jon Gordon; Writing by Anne
Marie Roantree, Farah Master and James Pomfret; Editing by Nick
Macfie and Robert Birsel)
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