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Danny Lee

Emily Tsang

Phila Siu

Jennifer Ngo

Joyce Ng

Peter So

Alan Yu

Samuel Chan

Clifford Lo

Timmy Sung

The police ended the main sit-in of the Occupy movement in Admiralty yesterday with the arrest of 247 people, including politicians, student leaders and a pop star. Traffic through the area resumed 75 days after the occupation started.
However, student leaders vowed to continue their prodemocracy cause in other ways after Christmas.
Monitored by members of the police watchdog and more than 200 local and international journalists, the seven-hour police operation proceeded without any clashes between officers and protesters, unlike in the clearance operation in Mong Kok.
By 11pm, all traffic on Harcourt Road had resumed.
Watch: Occupy Hong Kong supporters, legislators arrested as police clean up main protest site

Police cordoned off the camp along Harcourt Road at 2.20pm, after court bailiffs cleared the roads covered by an injunction which applied to one-fifth of the area. By that time, more than 100 protesters had started a sit-in on the road, waiting to be arrested.
Speaking at the sit-in before he was arrested, Federation of Students secretary general Alex Chow Yong-kang said: "I would not say … the movement ends with victory, but I don't think we have failed either."
He expected a "second wave of occupation" would happen in the coming months, when people protest at public forums during the second stage of public consultation on political reform.
Other sit-in participants included Democratic Party founding chairman Martin Lee Chu-ming, Apple Daily boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, Canto-pop singer Denise Ho Wan-see and nine members of the federation.
There were also ordinary citizens like Au Yeung Siu-hung, 67, who had been protesting in Admiralty every day over the past two months. Au said he was there to "fulfil the spirit of civil disobedience by shouldering the legal consequences" - in the words of the three Occupy Central founders who turned themselves in to police last week.

A government spokesman said the occupation was a "severe blow to the economy, politics, society and people's livelihood".
He expressed "gratitude" to the police force for their hard work, while urging the public to abide by the law in expressing their views in future. Executive councillors made the same appeal in a joint statement.
Lester Shum, Chow's deputy, said the clearance would not mark an end to their fight for genuine universal suffrage.
"I believe what the government has lost is not only the support of young people, but also Hongkongers," he said as he gathered with dozens outside Kwai Chung police station last night, where the first batch of those arrested were being held.

About 7,000 officers were deployed in two shifts for the clearance operation, and 909 protesters who left voluntarily after the area was sealed off at 2.20pm had their details taken. A police source said the remaining Occupy site in Causeway Bay would probably be cleared next week as the priority was to make sure that Admiralty was not reoccupied.
Some owners of businesses near the Occupy camp and workers affected by traffic jams expressed relief, while worrying that protesters would return.
Chung Kim-wah, director of Polytechnic University's Centre for Social Policy Studies, said Leung Chun-ying's administration would not find governance easier despite the end of Occupy, which he added had "torn society apart".
Danny Lee, Emily Tsang, Phila Siu, Jennifer Ngo, Joyce Ng, Peter So, Alan Yu, Samuel Chan, Clifford Lo and Timmy Sung


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Occupy Central

247 arrested in peaceful end to Hong Kong’s Occupy protests after 75 days of turmoil

Workers clear barricades at the Admiralty Occupy site. Photo: Felix Wong

Police officers remove remaining protesters. Photo: Sam Tsang

Traffic resumes for the first time in more than two months. Photo: Nora Tam

Traffic resumes for the first time in more than two months. Photos: Felix Wong, Nora Tam, Sam Tsang

Occupy Central camp in Admiralty goes down quietly as police move in

The scene last night after the clearance of the Occupy Central site in Admiralty. Photo: Dickson Lee

The scene last night after the clearance of the Occupy Central site in Admiralty. Photos: Dickson Lee, Felix Wong

Lawmaker Lam Tai-fai says the clearance of Admiralty protest site was peaceful and all had been restrained.

Police and workers took down a giant umbrella that had become a symbol for protesters.

Police and workers demolished barricades.

Benny Tai

Let's now find a way forward on Hong Kong's political reform

Police removed barricades and tore down tents at the Occupy protest site in Admiralty. Photo: Felix Wong

Photo gallery: 'We will be back', vow protesters as clearance operation proceeds at Admiralty Occupy site

The westbound lane of Harcourt Road is reopened to traffic. Photo: Nora Tam

Clean-up is almost done. Photo: Dickson Lee

Few are left at the sit-in. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Clockwise from top left: Next Media chairman Jimmy Lai, one of the earliest supporters of the pro-democracy protests, is arrested along with singer Denise Ho, Emily Lau and Martin Lee. Photos: K.Y. Cheng

More taken away: (Clockwise from top left) Civic Party Alan Leong Kah-kit, Civic Party boss Audrey Eu Yuet-mee, Albert Ho and Alex Chow. Photos: Sam Tsang

Pro-Occupy supporters getting arrested. 

Police have almost finished dismantling structures on Harcourt Road. Photo: Felix Wong

About 10 trucks are deployed to clear the barricades and tents on the road. Photo: Felix Wong

Tents and various makeshift "resource centres" turn into a pile of debris. Photo: Felix Wong

The life-sized cut-out of President Xi Jinping is destroyed in the Admiralty protest site. Photo: Felix Wong

The iconic and colourful Lennon Wall, plastered with drawings and messages about the Occupy movement, is no more. Photo: Felix Wong

A banner has been pulled down by clean-up crews. Photo: Felix Wong

Clean-up crews clear a temporary shelter. Photo: Felix Wong

The phrase "We will be back" has been scrawled on a tent. Photo: Felix Wong

A protester has been arrested after officers formed a human chain and advanced towards the sit-in area. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

A protester is carried away by police as arrests start. Photo: Phila Siu

Protesters rally outside the Central Government Office. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Policemen clear away barricades in the protest area outside the Police Headquarters. Photo: Felix Wong

Police remove protesters' tents under a bridge outside the Police Headquarters. Photo: Felix Wong

Police with shields and cable ties dangling from their waistbands prepare to move in for barricade clearance. Photo: Felix Wong

An iconic banner reading 'It's just the beginning' is pulled down by clean-up crews. Photo: Felix Wong


Bailiffs cut the cable ties on barricades in front of a sign that reads "Police! You are destroying our great future and wishes! Wake up!" Photo: Felix Wong

Bailiffs continue clearing the injunction covered area in Admiralty. Photo: Felix Wong

A huge banner, laid down by protesters on a overpass near Central district in Hong Kong, reads "we will be back". Photo: K.Y. Cheng

An aerial shot of the protest message "we'll be back", spelled out in colorful tent covers on a main road near Admiralty. Photo by K.Y. Cheng

A bailiffs starts announcing the injunction. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Bailiffs start clearing the barricades and cable ties in an area covered by a court injunction. Photo: Felix Wong

Men wearing hard hats and gloves start clearing the blockades. Photo: Felix Wong

Singer Denise Ho said she would wait to be arrested. Photo: Danny Lee

Protesters take pictures in the protest area before the clearance operation. Photo: Sam Tsang

Protesters fold their tents before the clearance operation. Photo: Sam Tsang

A protesters cries in her tent in the Admiralty protest zone. Photo: Sam Tsang

Inflatable letters reading "We will be back" are seen tied to a  fence inside the Central Government Office. Photo: Felix Wong

An elderly woman shows her support for the protesters. Photo: Sam Tsang

Protesters fold their tents preparing to leave the protest area before the injunction was announced. Photo: Felix Wong

A protest message written in chalk reads "You are only clearing a camp ... You can't clear the idea" on an overpass in Admiralty. Photo: Dickson Lee

News

Hong Kong

Police end Admiralty sit-in, but students vow to fight on, predicting a 'second wave of occupation'


The police ended the main sit-in of the Occupy movement in Admiralty yesterday with the arrest of 247 people, including politicians, student leaders and a pop star. Traffic through the area resumed.
