As expected, bailiffs carried out a court injunction to clear protest sites in the Admiralty district of Hong Kong, following 53 days of continual street demonstrations. There was little violence reported as protesters generally did not resist the orders. By midday Tuesday, some protesters still remained in their encampments after police cleared the area. From South China Morning Post:
Protesters began packing up their tents voluntarily at around 8am, following an order by Justice Thomas Au Hing-cheung that police officers could remove or arrest people who insisted on breaching the injunction.
The clearance began at 9.30am, when a bailiff and a Citic Group representative took to Lung Wui Road to tell protesters to go and take their belongings with them. [Source]
It was not clear whether authorities also intended to clear the protest site in Mong Kok, which was expected to face more resistance.
Both South China Morning Post and Wall Street Journal are following the events from the scene with a liveblog.
Watch live as police begin to clear Hong Kong protests: https://t.co/fDNw4zABdI #OccupyCentral pic.twitter.com/P8xbKbnjDv
— Deborah Kan (@debkhk) November 18, 2014
#執達主任 #中信大廈 #清場 #雨傘運動 #佔領中環 #HK1118 #Bailiff #CITIC #Clearing #UmbrellaMovement #OccupyCentral @hu_jia @OCLPHK @aiww pic.twitter.com/1L5HM4TBT2
— P H Yang Photography (@TravelFoto) November 18, 2014
Roundabout outside CITIC tower pretty much cleared, umbrella statue remains. #OccupyHK pic.twitter.com/V1QTSchFgO
— Venus Wu (@wu_venus) November 18, 2014
Security remove a barricade near a protest site in Hong Kong. By @AFP's @philippe_lopez. #OccupyHK pic.twitter.com/a7cn5ZvgOj
— AFP Photo (@AFPphoto) November 18, 2014
Moving out. #OccupyHK protesters clear away their tents, complying w/ Citic Tower injunction ahead of police action. pic.twitter.com/8iY3OzKjYq
— Kristie Lu Stout✌? (@klustout) November 18, 2014
Bailiff's notes #OccupyHK pic.twitter.com/YL2VIDipi0
— Kris Cheng (@krislc) November 18, 2014
CLEARED, BUT WE'RE UNMOVED! MT @hkdemonow Bailiffs set to clear section of #OccupyHK protest site #UmbrellaRevolution pic.twitter.com/uYaNNbwY2M
— Leo Hsu (@leohsu) November 18, 2014
The #occupyhk art has got darker pic.twitter.com/6mH0CffBIy
— Douglas Wong (@WongDouglas) November 18, 2014
WE ARE HONGKONGERS! MT @tomgrundy #OccupyHK protesters are keeping in touch w/each other by walkie-talkie. pic.twitter.com/TO26Q5Z4i6
— Leo Hsu (@leohsu) November 18, 2014
At 1.45pm today in Admiralty. Protest goes on after part-clearance by bailiffs #HongKong #UmbrellaRevolution pic.twitter.com/c6jWP9jE2m
— Missy Lao (@missy_lao) November 18, 2014
A media scrum watches as security staff remove barricades near a pro-democracy protest site in Admiralty, Hong Kong pic.twitter.com/oGrOkPKAM8
— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 18, 2014
STAY STRONG HK! MT @cnni security officials begin clearing a section of #OccupyHK Admiralty http://t.co/Zojdlo7XWl pic.twitter.com/KP7OjwfApR
— Leo Hsu (@leohsu) November 18, 2014
Citic Tower clearance today #OccupyHK #admiralty pic.twitter.com/JK0yPNepgA
— Vanessa Ma (@minivan47) November 18, 2014
the 50centers are out in full force with parts of admiralty being cleared (see comments section scmp) http://t.co/XCD8rL8ZPU
— lokman tsui (@lokmantsui) November 18, 2014
Occupy tent art #OccupyCentral #OccupyHK #UmbrellaRevolution #UmbrellaMovement pic.twitter.com/9SAbIjWdat
— don north (@donplusn) November 18, 2014
#中信大廈 外 #清場 #雨傘運動 #佔領中環 #香港 #HK1118 #CITIC #Clearing #UmbrellaMovement #OccupyCentral #HongKong @hu_jia @OCLPHK @aiww pic.twitter.com/29J4VY6N4P
— P H Yang Photography (@TravelFoto) November 18, 2014
@tomgrundy: Red Cross help out a journalist as ppl disperse. #UmbrellaMovement #OccupyCentral #香港デモ pic.twitter.com/FUDYdW0Pq6
— 煇煇 (@01Micco) November 18, 2014
@tomgrundy: Legislator Fernando Cheung arrives on scene, talks to police. #UmbrellaMovement #OccupyCentral #香港デモ pic.twitter.com/N8toUhxV5Z
— 煇煇 (@01Micco) November 18, 2014
@tomgrundy: CITIC Tower entrance is clear, police on standby outside. #OccupyCentral #UmbrellaMovement #香港デモ pic.twitter.com/3QQczdAQjA
— 煇煇 (@01Micco) November 18, 2014
@tomgrundy: Barriers loaded on to van #UmbrellaMovement #OccupyCentral #香港デモ pic.twitter.com/YSg6drUciJ
— 煇煇 (@01Micco) November 18, 2014
https://twitter.com/katiperrylove23/status/534578797702832128
the end of #umbrellarevolution http://t.co/lwQLvuso1V
— kirk hensler (@kirkhensler) November 18, 2014
Quick thinking from one protestor in Admiralty #OccupyCentral #OccupyHongKong #jmsc pic.twitter.com/vrr8GRaFpl
— Vicky Wong 黃瑋殷 (@vickywong710) November 18, 2014
Pic of "rebel camping" in admiralty #Hongkong, it remains intact #Occupycentral pic.twitter.com/ecEIl2JhTb
— Javier Espinosa (@javierespinosa2) November 18, 2014
Bailiffs are leaving. pic.twitter.com/GaiwIHbXKe
— Harbour Times (@harbourtimes) November 18, 2014
Today's action to clear part of protest area was, well, limited. 8 wks on & tent city is thriving. For now. pic.twitter.com/sOvQZNQjP2
— Mike Forsythe 傅才德 (@PekingMike) November 18, 2014
Read more about the protest movement in Hong Kong, via CDT.
