Hong Kong: Hundreds of Hong Kong police used sledgehammers and chainsaws to dismantle pro-democracy barricades near government offices and the city's financial centre on Tuesday, reopening a major road for the first time since protests began two weeks ago.
In a setback to protesters, traffic flowed freely along Queensway Road after their sit-in and barricades were cleared from the road. But other major protest sites remained intact in the Admiralty and Mong Kok districts and pro-democracy demonstrators were defiant. "We will rebuild them after the police remove them," said protester Bruce Sze. "We won't confront the police physically."
Unlike Monday, which saw clashes between anti-protest groups and pro-democracy activists after police removed barricades, Tuesday's operation resulted in no such confrontations. However, tensions are expected to escalate on Wednesday when taxi drivers, who say business has dropped by around 50 per cent, have threatened to remove barricades if protesters have not cleared them by then. Truck drivers have made similar threats.
Taxi and truck drivers were among those who tried to dismantle barricades on Monday when hundreds of people, some wearing surgical masks and carrying crowbars and cutting tools, tore down barricades and clashed with protesters.
"Reopening of (Queensway) is better than nothing at all as it allows more options to the drivers. But still it is not good enough and traffic will still be very heavy," said 53-year-old taxi driver Li Hung-on.
"My income was down by half in the past two weeks and drivers like us are still the victims. It would be good if all the roads resume normal." The protesters, mostly students, are demanding full democracy for the former British colony, but their two-week standoff has caused traffic chaos and fuelled frustrations in the Asian financial hub, draining some public support.
Some of the city's most powerful tycoons had warned prior to the protests that any moves to occupy the heart of the city could undermine Hong Kong's stability. They have remained largely silent since the protests kicked off.
Police, criticised for using tear gas and batons in the first 24 hours of the protests, have adopted a more patient approach, counting on protesters to come under public pressure to clear some of the city's major arteries.
The removal of barricades but not protesters by Hong Kong police suggests a strategy of slow attrition, similar to that used against Occupy Wall St protests.
Protester numbers have dwindled significantly from their peak of around 100,000 at three sites, but observers believe they will sit it out.
"I don’t think the protesters, having suffered tear gas, endured the attacks by the anti occupy people, will just surrender unconditionally and leave," said Joseph Wong, political analyst at the University of Hong Kong.
