CNN, Hong Kong:Hong Kong police moved at dawn on Friday to clear a major intersection occupied by pro-democracy protesters for almost three weeks, tearing down tents and dismantling barricades.Around 500 to 600 police carrying wire cutters and riot shields stormed the site in the city’s busy Mong Kok district, a smaller offshoot of the main downtown protest area, catching the 100 to 200 protesters at the site off guard.Police also used a crane to tear down makeshift structures erected by the protesters.A CNN team at the scene said most protesters did not put up any resistance. Police later said they arrested one 48-year-old man for common assault.University student Adrian Lui, who had been at the protest camp for three days, said he was sleeping when the police moved in.”They were running towards us with shields and at that moment we were nervous. Lots of people got spooked and ran down side streets.”Lui said he would stay at the site in the hope that back-up protesters would arrive.Pictures from CNN affiliate iCable Friday afternoon showed a small number of protesters sitting on the street in Mong Kok, preventing traffic from flowing southbound along Nathan Road, a main thoroughfare in Kowloon.In a statement, police said that they had designated an area for protesters on the sidewalk and called for them to disperse.On Thursday, Hong Kong’s leader C.Y. Leung said that the government was eager to resume talks with the main student group as early as next week.However, he said the city’s tolerance of mass sit-ins was limited and the standoff could not carry on.One of the main student groups, the Hong Kong Federation of Students, said late Thursday it was willing to have dialogue but said it hadn’t been approached by the government or its representatives.Protesters continue to occupy a major thoroughfare in Admiralty, close to the city’s financial district and government headquarters, but police have chipped away at the area held by protesters this week by removing barricades and opening roads to traffic.
