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HONG KONG Police cleared a pro-democracy camp at a key intersection before dawn Friday, a day after Hong Kongs leader said he is ready to start talks with protesters but rejected in advance any major concessions.

The raid showed the quick-strike strategies of security forces seeking to regain control of the streets after three weeks of demonstrations which began in opposition to Beijings rules for Hong Kong elections, but later expanded into wider challenges to Chinas control over the former British colony.

Although authorities appeared to make another gain in the showdowns for streets and plazas, the protesters have faced crackdowns before and managed to regroup.

Protest leaders also said the clearance casts doubt on the governments sincerity to engage in talks.

If the government does not agree with the students position, it can rebut them during the dialogue, said a statement from Occupy Central, one of the protest organizers. It is unreasonable for the government to require the students to first abandon their position before engaging in dialogue.

Hong Kongs embattled chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, announced at a news conference Thursday that the government is ready to begin discussing universal suffrage with student activists. (Hong Kong Government Information Services Department/YouTube)

Hundreds of police, wearing helmets and brandishing riot shields and batons, stormed the camp in the congested Mong Kok neighborhood, across the harbor from the heart of the movement near government headquarters.

The nighttime raid came as many protesters slept in dozens of tents or under tarpaulin sheets. The protesters retreated without resisting, but later some trickled back to the site. No major force was used, according to witness statements reported by news agencies.

Traffic returned to normal after police removed the barricades, tents, shrines and umbrellas a symbol of the protests. Police on motorbikes escorted the first civilian vehicles to pass along the road in three weeks.

It also reduces the number of protest sites that have paralyzed parts of Asias premiere financial center since Sept. 28.

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Hong Kong police clear pro-democracy camp at key intersection

October 18, 2014, 1:05 am

Hong Kong (AFP) - Fresh clashes broke out in Hong Kong Friday night as demonstrators attempted to retake a protest camp partially cleared by police earlier in the day jeopardising talks to end weeks of mass democracy rallies

Officers used pepper spray and batons to beat back activists as they tried to reoccupy a busy main road in the bustling Mongkok district that had been host to a protest camp for nearly three weeks, an AFP reporter on the scene saw.

It is the third consecutive night violence has broken out after a fortnight of comparative calm in a development that risks sinking only recently resurrected plans to hold talks between student leaders and the city's Beijing-backed authorities.

The Asian financial hub has been rocked by demonstrations for nearly three weeks -- some of which drew crowds tens of thousands strong -- calling both for full democracy and the resignation of the city's leader Leung Chun-ying.

Protesters have held sit-ins at three major intersections causing significant disruption to a city usually known for its stability and presenting Beijing with one of the most significant challenges to its rule since the 1989 Tiananmen protests.

China has insisted that Leung's successor must be vetted by a loyalist committee before standing for election in 2017, a proposal protesters have dismissed as a "fake democracy".

Earlier in the day officers had significantly reduced the size of the Mongkok camp -- the second largest after the main protest site opposite the government's headquarters on the other side of Victoria Harbour -- in a swift dawn raid that saw no resistance put up by protesters.

The site had previously seen clashes between demonstrators and masked government loyalists earlier in the month.

Throughout Friday demonstrators managed to hold on to one side of a multi-lane road where the camp had been located. Police then struggled to maintain order as crowds of pro-democracy supporters began to swell during the evening.

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Hong Kong police swoop on democracy protest site

The dawn raid sees no resistance from demonstrators, and comes as the city's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying renewed his offer for talks with student protesters a week after pulling out

PROTEST. PROTEST. Pro-democracy protesters sit on a fence during a rally of the ongoing Occupy Central movement in Admiralty District of Hong Kong, China, 16 October 2014. Jeon Heon-Kyun/EPA

HONG KONG Hong Kong police partially cleared a democracy protest site Friday, October 17, tearing down tents and barricades hours after the city's embattled leader reopened his offer of talks to end nearly 3 weeks of disruptive demonstrations.

Mongkok has seen violent scuffles between demonstrators calling for full democracy in the southern Chinese city and pro-government groups.

The dawn raid was met with no resistance from demonstrators, and came as the city's Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying renewed his offer for talks with student protesters a week after abruptly pulling out.

But the swift police operation risks throwing the talks into doubt as student leaders decide on their response to the raid, and defiant protesters remained on one side of the multi-lane road that housed the camp.

The Asian financial hub has been rocked by mass rallies for nearly three weeks calling both for full democracy and Leung's resignation.

Ongoing sit-ins at three major intersections have caused significant disruption to a city usually known for its stability.

China has insisted that Leung's successor must be vetted by a loyalist committee before standing for election in 2017, a proposal protesters have dismissed as a "fake democracy".

The occupation of Mongkok the second largest rally site and a densely packed working-class district known for its triad crime gangs was a regular source of tension between protesters and many residents.

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Hong Kong police partly tear down democracy protest site

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