Hong Kong authorities to clear more protest barricades in Mong Kok district

Hong Kong authorities said they will remove some barricades on Tuesday from part of a pro-democracy protest site in Mong Kok district, scene of previous violent confrontations with police and angry mobs.

The government said in a statement on Monday that police will be on hand to assist bailiffs working under a court order to remove obstructions from the site, which activists have occupied for nearly two months. Police are authorised to arrest anyone obstructing the bailiffs.

Protesters have been camped out on major thoroughfares in three areas of Hong Kong since September 28,2014 demanding greater democracy. The standoff has continued with no end in sight as neither the government nor the student-led protesters have shown any willingness to compromise.

Authorities last week started enforcing court orders against protest sites. They removed some barricades from the edge of the main protest area, next to the city government headquarters, while protesters offered little resistance.

The barricade clearances come at a critical phase for the protest movement, as student leaders run out of options and numbers of demonstrators dwindle.

The operation on Tuesday is being carried out after Hong Kong's High Court granted a restraining order to a minibus company requiring protesters to leave one of the occupied Mong Kok streets. A separate court order granted to taxi drivers to clear another Mong Kok street is expected to be enforced on Wednesday.