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 The so-called Occupy Central movement kicked off on Sept. 28, when
tens of thousands of protesters streamed onto major highways in a
push for full democracy, demonstrations that became the biggest
political challenge to Beijing's Communist Party leaders for
decades.
The protesters dug in over the ensuing weeks, with hundreds of tents
and marquees filled with free provisions and medical supplies
mushrooming in the financial hub, as well as protest art and outdoor
classrooms.
Hong Kong police cleared away most of the sites in mid-December but
a small cluster of tents and hardcore protesters were allowed to
remain on pavements until Wednesday, marking 270 straight days of
demonstrations at the same site.
Officials from the Lands Department, dressed in hard hats and green
vests, read out a notice calling for a final clearance of the
remaining site on a rainy morning.
 Two protesters were taken away by police, including one who was
identified by demonstrators as Wang Dengyao, a Chinese activist who
survived the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing.
There was little resistance from around 20 others who watched
quietly as the site was cleared away, their sodden tents and
possessions thrown into dump trucks.
"We didn't succeed, but we also didn't fail," said 71-year-old Simon
Wong, whose black T-shirt bore the slogan: "I want real universal
suffrage".
"I feel calm but I'll also be missing this," he said.
The protests failed to persuade China to allow a fully democratic
vote for the city's next leader in 2017, instead of a list of
pre-screened, pro-Beijing candidates.
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The clearance came six days after Hong Kong's legislature vetoed a
Beijing-backed electoral reform package that was criticized by
pro-democracy lawmakers and activists as undemocratic.
The city's pro-Beijing lawmakers failed to vote for the package in a
mysterious, last-minute walk-out of the legislature in what was a
setback for China's Communist leaders.
Street tensions appear to have eased off, but radical protesters and
"localists" demanding greater Hong Kong autonomy have vowed to keep
fighting even as China shows signs of tightening its grip on the
former British colony.
"The next step for us is to really move into the districts to try to
re-awaken the moderate democrats ... and to never stop fighting for
democracy," said Benny Mok, 51, who had camped at the site for more
than 250 nights.
"Hong Kong deserves better," he said.
(Writing by James Pomfret; Editing by Paul Tait)
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