Backed by a court order, workers hired by a Hong Kong bus company on Thursday dismantled barricades erected by pro-democracy protesters who have occupied the streets for 75 days and police moved in by midafternoon to begin arresting the last remaining holdouts.
Men wearing hard hats and orange vests started cutting apart the blockades about 10:30 a.m.. The sit-in area was largely calm, but police sealed off the entire protest zone and anyone still left inside the perimeter was potentially subject to arrest.
At least 100 people – including about a dozen Hong Kong legislators, plus members of the Hong Kong Federation of Students and the student group Scholarism -- sat down in the road in the Admiralty district, waiting for officers to move in and make arrests.
Police methodically approached each demonstrator one by one, with a female officer requesting that they walk under their own power. Those who refused to cooperate were physically lifted by groups of five or six officers and carried away.
"I will confess to the crime of civil disobedience, of having occupied the roadway," said Chui Suk-fong, 55, a homemaker who has been visiting the encampment daily since the protests began in late September. "I will take whatever force police will use on me one last time."
A few protesters, anticipating pepper spray or tear gas, donned protective gear, but most, like Chui, declined such precautions. Police were equipped with helmets, riot shields, batons and plastic handcuffs, but the atmosphere was generally calm.
"I am here for justice and a more equal society," said Cherry Wong, 25, a recent college graduate risking arrest. "I really want to experience this historical moment in Hong Kong. Anyone with a conscience should be here."
Outside the offices of Hong Kong's Chief Executive, left-wing legislator and political activist Leung Kwok-hung, better known as Long Hair Leung, led protesters in a chant, "Come out and face us!"
Though the 2 ½ month-long protests did not force the government to yield to demonstrators' demands for new rules concerning the 2017 chief executive election, Leung said the movement was not a waste.
"We didn't fail; we succeeded in lifting the democratic movement up one notch," said Leung.
Added Wong Weng-chi, an aide to Leung: "Some people thought we would succeed in one go, but our fight will be longer and more arduous than democracy fights in other countries because the Chinese Communist Party is the most formidable political party on earth." Even in Taiwan, he noted, the struggle for democracy "took a decade."
Before Thursday's clearance operation, demonstrators massed for a final rally Wednesday night. The gathering had the vibe of an overlong summer camp winding down. Knots of demonstrators belted out songs, reveling in the last moments of camaraderie forged over more than two months on the streets.
Some started to stencil and paint slogans on the asphalt of the occupied highway. One read: "I won't acquiesce! I'm willing to wait a lifetime for democracy."
Student leaders appealed to those remaining to join them on the front lines Thursday morning.
"The goal is to show the regime [that] even though it can clear the roadways, there're still those who will stand their ground," Alex Chow, head of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said an hour before clearance was to begin.
"It's too soon to tell if the public has woken up. Even some of those who did may well be lulled back into complacency again," said Michael Chan, 20, who got involved nearly three months ago with planning the class boycott that kick-started the movement. "I'll wait and see how many turn out for the next demonstration."
The engineering student was arrested in September when he stormed the government compound at the end of the class boycott. He was arrested again last week in the Mong Kok neighborhood during a "strolling" protest.
Even though Chan said he couldn't afford to be hauled off for a third time without risking his parents' ire, he said he was determined to stay.
He planned to move to the public park at the government office compound. On Wednesday evening, a new coalition of pro-democracy advocates called Safeguard Our City said it had secured a last-minute permit from the government's leisure services department to decamp the protesters there.
Law is a special correspondent.
Law reported from Hong Kong and Makinen from China.
Follow @JulieMakLAT for news from China
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times1:11 a.m. This story was updated with details on the latest arrests.
10:31 p.m.: This story was updated with comments from Leung Kwok-hung.
This story was first posted at 7:56 p.m.
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