Roads around Legco reopen as last remaining Hong Kong protesters voluntarily leave
- Hundreds of demonstrators had continued to block roads around legislature and government headquarters before leaving on Monday morning
- Increased police presence on but force insisted officers took ‘softly-softly approach’
Traffic was running again on major access roads to the city’s legislature and the government headquarters in Admiralty on Monday morning after the last remaining anti-extradition bill protesters voluntarily departed.
The demonstrators had been urged by police to leave and clear their barricades, the morning after a mass rally calling on the city’s leader to fully withdraw the controversial bill.
Harcourt Road, one of the main arteries running across Hong Kong Island, was open to traffic at 10.51am, the protesters having vacated it.
They proceeded to gather in the protest area of the Legislative Council complex and in nearby Tamar Park. Some of them floated the idea of protesting outside Government House, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s official residence.
Police had emphasised that they were appealing for the protesters to leave, rather than issuing a clearance order.
On Monday morning, police were stationed along Upper and Lower Albert Road, with barricades placed on the approach to Government House. Empty buses at the back of the residence suggested there were more police in the area. There was no sign of any protesters, however.