Emergency routes blocked by demonstrators were cleared without incident on Tuesday morning, recovering the first ground from the ongoing Hong Kong occupation protests, which have spanned more than 50 days.

Judicial bailiffs under the authority of the Special Administrative Region's High Court dismantled barriers around CITIC Tower in Hong Kong's Admiralty district shortly before 10 am.

Occupy Central protesters cleared the area immediately around the office building, relocating tents and several barriers to adjacent protest sites still ringing the city's central government complex.

Nearby roadblocks remain in place with protesters refusing to clear connecting roads and forcing two-way traffic onto one-way lanes.

The small-scale clearance represents less than 10 percent of the main protest site and was the first ground recovered via legal action since protesters agitating for political changes occupied and fortified several hectares of key roads in three major commercial districts on Sept 26.

The government has maintained that the protests are illegal.

Raii, a server at a CITIC Tower cafe, said she was relieved that traffic was partially restored. The occupation has cut business by 20 percent and added an hour to her commute, she said.

The High Court granted injunctions on Oct 20 to two transport companies, and CITIC Tower landlord Gold on Investments, all of which argued that the occupation endangered lives by blocking escape routes, and obstructions at the car park entrance led to a loss of income.

Protesters previously defied multiple attempts by bailiffs and security guards to clear access points, compelling applicants to seek greater enforcement powers from the courts, which gave police an explicit role in assisting the clearances.

Two similar injunctions supporting transport companies' requests for clearance of a major east-west thoroughfare blocked by protesters across Victoria Harbor remained unserved on Tuesday. The road in Mong Kok, on Hong Kong's Kowloon Peninsula, is expected to be cleared next.

While the small band of occupiers around CITIC Tower selectively observed orders to leave the vicinity of the office block after the court's explicit backing of police enforcement, protesters at large showed little sign of ending the nearly two-month confrontation.

Nick Yeung, a 24-year-old student preparing for university entrance exams who joined the protests at the onset, said he will follow the remaining crowd of occupation protesters to the original protest site in Admiralty when their Mong Kok site was cleared.

A 40-year-old electronics merchant surnamed Ho, who had also been with the occupation since the start, said demonstrators will retreat to neighboring districts if they were forced out of Mong Kok, calling the Kowloon urban hub "our main battlefield".

Contact the writer at tim@chinadailyhk.com

(China Daily 11/19/2014 page4)