HK police restore downtown traffic after clearing all occupy sites

Hong Kong police on Monday cleared the last occupy site to put an end to the Occupy Movement which lasted for more than two months.

The police swept off various make-shift barriers that the protesters had installed on an about hundred-meter-long main thoroughfare in Causeway Bay, one of Hong Kong's busiest shopping areas ahead of the Christmas holiday.

The Occupy movement started on Sept. 28 when protesters blockaded several main roads and streets in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island to showed defiance to China's top legislature's decision on the election of the region's next leader.

The Occupy Movement caused serious traffic disruption, less tourists, temporary closure of schools and banks and a slump in local stock market trading besides a series of clashes between protesters and police.

Before the raid to the occupy site in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong police and bailiffs had cleared occupy sites in Mong Kok and Admiralty successively.

With the clearance of protest sites, all downtown traffic was restored on Monday.

"To avoid large scale confrontations and bloodshed, police have exercised a high degree of tolerance and restraint in the past 79 days to deal with illegal acts of unlawful assemblies and illegal blockage of major thoroughfares at various locations in Hong Kong, " said Commissioner of Police Andy Tsang, Hong Kong's top-ranking police officer.

However, police were forced to use the minimum level of force when confronted with violent behaviors and chaotic situations on nine days, Tsang told a press conference after the clearing operation, including the first day of the movement when police fired tear gas to disperse violent protesters.

According to Tsang, a total of 955 persons have been arrested for committing various offenses relating to the illegal occupation as of Monday, and police will endeavor to complete the investigations, particularly the principal instigators, within three months.

Another 75 persons surrendered themselves to the police in the past 79 days, according to Tsang.

The Transport Department of the Special Administrative Region Government announced on Monday afternoon that all public transport services affected by the occupy movement have been restored.

At the time, all financial counters, which were shut down during the past 79 days, have been reopened, according to Hong Kong Monetary Authority.

Many local residents applauded and hailed when buses, trams and other vehicles restored service on both directions of Yee Wo Street and Hennessy Road at Causeway Bay.

A man at a bus station in Yee Wo Street complained that he had to spend an additional hour every day for commute during the occupy time.

Ms. Geng who split her time between Hong Kong and Shenzhen told Xinhua that she often run into traffic jam when traveling to Hong Kong in the past two months. "The occupy protest finally came to an end which is good news for travelers."

A saleswoman of a gold shop in Causeway Bay said that the shop' s turnover dropped by more than 40 percent during the National Day holiday. And after the occupy sites have been cleared, the shop is preparing a series of sales promotion for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said on Monday that the worst impact that the occupy movement has brought to Hong Kong in the past days is the undermining to the rule of law.

The democracy that Hong Kong and other advanced countries around the world pursue is a democracy under the rule of law, Leung said, noting that people should abide by the law in the first place no matter what their advocates and appeals are regarding the election of the region's next leader.

The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR issued a statement on Monday, praising Hong Kong police's endeavor, dedication and professionalism in handling the Occupy Movement.

"We hope all circles of Hong Kong society could cherish the hard-won stability and make concerted effort to support Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying and the SAR government's governance in line with law, and rebuild Hong Kong's social harmony after coming out the occupy crisis," read the statement.