Hong Kong police clear site

In a final push to retake streets occupied by pro-democracy demonstrators for two and a half months, Hong Kong police began clearing barricades in the Admiralty government and financial district on Thursday.

Backed by an injunction issued on December 9, police gave a final warning to protesters as several remained in the area after the 9 a.m. local time (0100 GMT) deadline.

For 75 days, protesters have been demonstrating for free and fair 2017 elections for the semi-autonomous region, without interference from mainland China.

In late August the Beijing government announced that candidates for the 2017 leadership elections will first have to be vetted by a loyalist committee.

'We will be back'

At their height, the rallies drew tens of thousands of people, but numbers have dwindled to just hundreds in recent weeks.

On what looked to be the final night of protests, chants of "I want real suffrage" could be heard among demonstrators, however, with some leaving messages in chalk on the asphalt that read, "We will be back."

'Awakening process'

The mainly peaceful protests in the Chinese-controlled city have represented one of the most serious challenges to China's authority since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations and bloody crackdown in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

"The movement has been an awakening process for Hong Kong. People who weren't interested in politics before are now and aren't afraid to get arrested, especially the young people," said Labor Party lawmaker Lee Cheuk-yan.

Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese government by Britain in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" scheme. The arrangement allows Hong Kong a degree of autonomy from the mainland and envisages eventual "universal suffrage."

ksb/jm (Reuters, AFP, dpa)