Hong Kong authorities are preparing to clear the territory’s last remaining protest sites, bringing a likely end to two months of pro-democracy demonstrations.

A ruling by Hong Kong’s High Court gives authorities permission to tear down street barricades at the main Admiralty protest site, near government headquarters.

The injunction was published Tuesday in local media, which reported that thousands of police will on Thursday work with bailiffs to clear the tent city.

The order only gives permission to dismantle a portion of the Admiralty site, but authorities are expected to clear the entire area and reopen traffic.

The South China Morning Post reports police will also break up a separate, smaller protest site in the popular shopping district of Causeway Bay.

The moves set the stage for a possible final showdown between police and protesters, who have repeatedly clashed during past attempts to clear the sites.

Chief Executive C.Y. Leung, who has branded the protests illegal, has rejected calls for more talks on political reform and warned protesters not to turn to violence when the clearance starts.

Splinter protest groups calling for democracy for Hong Kong are springing up and fast-tracking action plans, but student groups have been considering a retreat from the main campsite for over a week, with key leader Joshua Wong saying his group would maintain the principle of non-violence during the clearance of the Admiralty site.

One man was jailed for six months on Monday for threatening to burn demonstrators in the Mong Kok area with paint thinner, media said on Monday.

Only dozens now remain at the protest sites. At one point, tens of thousands participated, calling for fully democratic elections for the city’s top leader in 2017.

The Hong Kong Federation of Students, a key protest organizer, has said it will soon decide whether to call its students off the streets.

Hong Kong, a former British colony, was returned to China in 1997. Its citizens still enjoy many freedoms not allowed on the mainland.

But authorities have refused to hold free elections, insisting all candidates for chief executive be approved by a committee made up mainly of people loyal to Beijing.

Material for this report came from Reuters.
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