Hong Kong authorities are clearing barricades from roads around part of the main pro-democracy protest site around the government center in the Admiralty District.  This, after the owners of the Citic Tower secured a court order to free up the entrance to the building, which is adjacent to the protest camp.

There was no attempt to clear the center of the camp, and the pro-democracy student protesters said they would not resist the clearance and have begun packing up their tents.  Hong Kong’s high court last month authorized the clearance of the Mong Kok site, and a third protest camp remains at Causeway Bay.

For several weeks, students and other pro-democracy demonstrators have camped in major neighborhoods to demand that Hong Kong residents be able choose their leaders without interference from above.  But the government insists that candidates in the next election for Hong Kong chief executive in 2017 must be vetted and approved by Beijing.