Huanqiu reported that, on November 18, the Hong Kong government cleared the barriers at Admiralty, a site where Occupy Central protesters had been stationed.
The article stated "clearing the [Occupy Central] site is what the public wanted. Some commentaries said that, not only did the majority of Hong Kong’s citizens want the students to retreat completely, but the students also wanted the government to clear the site so that they can take it as a step calling for them to retreat."
Huanqiu interviewed a Beijing University professor who gave three reasons for the clearing at Admiralty to have gone smoothly. The first was that the overseas democracy promoters suggested the "Occupy Central" activists not have a conflict but instead plan for a long-term struggle. Second, the "Occupy Central" activists realized that the "Occupy Central" [movement] had reached a hopeless stage. Third, the court staff performed the site clearing. They represent the law and if the "Occupy Central" activists resisted, they would "nakedly" (without any coverage) have violated the law.
Source: Huanqiu Online, November 19, 2014
http://china.huanqiu.com/article/2014-11/5207114.html