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As Hong Kong Occupy Protests Wind Down, Many Make One Last Visit Last of Hong Kong Protesters Pack Up and Wait for the Police
(about 9 hours later)
HONG KONG — Thousands of protesters thronged the political heart of Hong Kong on Wednesday night, giving a defiant and tearful farewell to a pro-democracy camp that the police have warned they will start demolishing Thursday morning, effectively ending 10 weeks of street occupations that have laid bare divisions over the city’s political future. HONG KONG — Protesters who have encircled the political heart of Hong Kong for more than 10 weeks steeled themselves early  Thursday for the police to close in and try to dismantle their camp, effectively ending the pro-democracy street occupations that have laid bare divisions over the city’s political future.
Attendance has shrunk at the protest camp in the Admiralty neighborhood, next to the city government’s offices, reduced by exhaustion, cold and disappointment. But thousands returned on a cool night to see the camp, which sprang up in late September as part of a demand for democratic elections for the city’s leader. After a night when thousands gathered to give a defiant and tearful farewell to the pro-democracy camp in the Admiralty neighborhood, next to the city government offices, many of the protesters busied themselves packing tents and other equipment before the police were to start clearing them out.
“The police can clear our protest site, but they can never extinguish our desire for democracy in our hearts,” said a woman in her 20s who climbed onto a makeshift podium in the middle of the camp, where many huddled to listen to valedictory speeches and roared approval at her words. Some protesters vowed to stay and accept arrest, as a show of resistance to the government, which has refused to offer concessions on how the city’s leader is elected. But most who stayed overnight in Admiralty, for nightlong celebrations and farewells, appeared resigned to retreating.
The turnout in Admiralty was one of the largest since the early days of the protests. Families queued up to collect bracelets and other mementos made by volunteers; other people took pictures of themselves and the posters and art that have covered the camp. Many signed banners demanding democracy and left sticky notes on what has been called the Lennon Wall, a side of a government building facing the protest camp that is covered in the notes. “We’ve been here for two months, more than two months, and it’s time to move on,” said Koby Chan, a sales representative in his 20s who was among a group of protesters packing to leave the area that the police have said would be cleared first, in enforcement of a court injunction. “We’ll stop now, but that doesn’t mean we’re giving up. We’ll be back for sure.”
Many protesters, resigned to the police clearance, were busy packing away tents and other supplies. Some vowed to peacefully resist, and others may forcefully oppose any move to demolish the camp. That area of the camp was largely empty on Thursday at dawn. “It’s just the beginning,” declared a banner that had gone up over a barricade.
“We know it’s nearly time to leave, but that doesn’t mean the struggle is over,” said Ng Kai-man, 17, who quit her job as a waitress to plunge full time into the protests. She sat on a chair with a sign that declared, “We’ll be back.”  Attendance has been shrinking on the streets of Admiralty, reduced by exhaustion, cold and disappointment. But thousands returned on Wednesday night to see the camp, representing one of the largest turnouts since the early days of the movement.
“That means, ‘If you clear us, we’ll come back sooner or later somewhere,'” said Ms. Ng, looking at the sign. “I think we have developed a spirit of solidarity. It’s a big gang of people who have learned disobedience.” Families lined up to collect bracelets and other mementos made by volunteers; other people took pictures of themselves and the posters and art that have covered the camp. Many signed banners demanding democracy and left sticky notes on what is called the Lennon Wall, a side of a government building facing the camp that is covered in the notes.
Whatever happens, the protests have exposed and widened political fissures, Hong Kong residents say. The government and its supporters have accused the protesters of reckless naïveté and of serving as tools of Western-sponsored subversion. Many protesters have said the Chinese government’s plans for election changes in the city would leave Beijing with the power to choose winners. Even before dawn broke on Thursday, the camp bustled with life. Groups packed tents, preparing to leave, although hundreds of tents remained, as many demonstrators were still asleep.
At supply stations for the protesters, volunteers packed away safety masks, goggles and helmets stockpiled for possible confrontations with the police. Student leaders have said they do not want a repeat of the violence that erupted after the police demolished the other main protest camp, in the Mong Kok neighborhood, on Nov. 25. Charlotte Chan, a 19-year-old nursing student, reclined on a sofa that had been used to block an escalator leading to the government offices, and she said that even those who wanted to keep up the demonstrations could see that they lacked support.
Alex Chow, a leader of the Hong Kong Federation of Students, a university group at the forefront of the protests, said the protesters should neither “resist nor retaliate” during the police clearance. “I’m angry, because the protest has been for two months, and I think we should go on,” she said. “But most want to go, so it’s time to accept that. It’s time to leave, even if we don’t want to go.”
“We will stay here until the end, even risking arrests, to tell the government we are not the rioters they say and we bear the responsibility of our actions,” Mr. Chow told the crowd. “The movement will go on in other forms of disobedience.” Whatever happens, the protests have exposed and widened political fissures, Hong Kong residents say. The government and its supporters have accused the protesters of reckless naïveté and of assisting in Western-sponsored subversion. Many protesters have said the Chinese government’s plans for election changes in the city would give Beijing the power to choose winners.
But in recent weeks, the protesters have become increasingly divided between those who favor peaceful resistance and a minority who argue that only escalating the protests, and risking confrontation, can win concessions. A few protesters have vowed to vigorously resist the police in Admiralty, said Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, a democratic member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, who has sought to defuse confrontations during the protests. At supply stations for the protesters, volunteers packed away safety masks, goggles and helmets stockpiled for possible confrontations with the police. Student leaders have said they do not want a repeat of the violence that erupted after the police demolished the other main protest camp, in the Mong Kok neighborhood, on Nov. 25.
“If you have one incident, or one person triggering the offensive from our side, the police could respond with tens or hundreds of times more forcefully,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. But in recent weeks, the protesters have become increasingly split between those who favor peaceful resistance and a minority who argue that only escalating the protests, and risking confrontation, can win concessions. A few have vowed to resist the police in Admiralty, said Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, a pro-democracy member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, who has sought to defuse confrontations during the protests.
The Admiralty protest camp sprang up on Sept. 28, when thousands of protesters seized the streets after a bungled police effort to disperse students with tear gas and pepper spray. The police hope that a tightly choreographed operation to clear it will avoid such misfires. “If you have one incident, or one person triggering the offensive from our side, the police could respond with tens or hundreds of times” more force, he said in an interview on Tuesday.
The Admiralty protest camp sprang up on Sept. 28, when thousands of protesters seized the streets after a bungled police effort to disperse students with tear gas and pepper spray. The police hope that a tightly choreographed operation to clear it will avoid such misfires.
The operation will proceed in steps, beginning with the clearance of an area covered by a court injunction, said a police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.The operation will proceed in steps, beginning with the clearance of an area covered by a court injunction, said a police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
After that, the police will move on to the main camp, first warning people to leave, then sealing off the area so residents cannot enter, and then removing protesters and their tents. The effort could take much of the day, if not longer, and the police are prepared to make many arrests, the official said. Already, 655 people have been arrested since the protests began, he said. After that, the police will move on to the main camp, first warning people to leave, then sealing off the area so no one can enter, and then removing protesters and their tents. The effort could take much of the day, if not longer, and the police are prepared to make many arrests, the official said. Already, 655 people have been arrested since the protests began, he said.
Carrie Lam, the chief secretary of the Hong Kong government and its second-ranking official, said 3,000 employees at the government offices near Admiralty would not go to work on Thursday, and urged people to stay away from the area. A half-dozen young men wearing scarves or surgical masks to cover their faces were reinforcing some of the barricades before dawn on Thursday.
“Once the police operation is underway, and knowing very well that there are some radical elements amongst the protesters, confrontation might become inevitable,” she said in an email. But the masked men, who refused to give their names because of the impending police action, said that they did not plan to fight the police. “We will let the students get away first, and then we’ll wait until the last minute” before leaving as well, one of them said.
But Steve Vickers, a senior Hong Kong police official before the British handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, predicted that resistance would be limited to a few protesters. “There will be a small, very hard core who will resist,” Mr. Vickers said in an interview. “The bulk of them will probably melt away after some screaming and shouting.” Carrie Lam, the chief secretary of the Hong Kong government and its second-ranking official, said on Wednesday that 3,000 government employees near Admiralty would not go to work on Thursday, and she urged people to stay away.
But Steve Vickers, a senior Hong Kong police official before the British handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, predicted that resistance would be limited. “There will be a small, very hard core who will resist,” Mr. Vickers said. “The bulk of them will probably melt away after some screaming and shouting.”