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HONG KONG (AP) — Pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong are vowing that their fight for genuine elections isn't over.
Authorities today demolished a protest camp at the heart of the movement, taking away scores of activists. Police say more than 200 people were arrested for unlawful assembly and obstructing police.
The officers, armed with chain saws and bolt cutters, methodically dismantled barricades, tore down canopies and removed banners in a daylong operation to shut the protest site. The operation was peaceful, free of the violent clashes that were seen in previous confrontations between protesters and police. Traffic started flowing on the road by mid-evening.
The student-led protesters had occupied streets since Sept. 28 to protest Beijing's restrictions on the first election of the city's top leader.
Protesters promised to keep up their civil disobedience campaign against the government using new tactics. Many said the movement had sparked an awakening among the wider population.
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142-c-21-(Kelvin Chan, AP correspondent)-"and elderly people"-AP correspondent Kelvin Chan reports hundreds of protesters were taken away by Hong Kong police. (11 Dec 2014)
<<CUT *142 (12/11/14)££ 00:21 "and elderly people"
143-c-21-(Kelvin Chan, AP correspondent)-"democratic reform consultation"-AP correspondent Kelvin Chan reports the Hong Kong protest organizers say the spirit of the movement will live on, but the idea of occupying the streets is over. (11 Dec 2014)
<<CUT *143 (12/11/14)££ 00:21 "democratic reform consultation"
APPHOTO XKC142: Police officers take away a protester at the occupied area outside government headquarters in Hong Kong Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. Hong Kong police on Thursday took away demonstrators who refused to leave the main pro-democracy protest camp and tore down their tents in a final push to retake streets occupied by activists for two and a half months. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) (11 Dec 2014)
<<APPHOTO XKC142 (12/11/14)££
APPHOTO XKC143: Workers check the main road after police removed and cleared the occupied area outside government headquarters in Hong Kong Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014. Hong Kong police on Thursday took away demonstrators who refused to leave the main pro-democracy protest camp and tore down their tents in a final push to retake streets occupied by activists for two and a half months. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung) (11 Dec 2014)
<<APPHOTO XKC143 (12/11/14)££
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