Scores of protesters at a Hong Kong sit-in have been forcibly removed by police following a massive pro-democracy rally which organisers said saw a turnout of over half a million.
Hundreds of protesters had staged a sit-in on a street in the city's Central district and vowed to stay until 8am (1000 AEST) on Wednesday. But just after 3am police began to move in and load them onto coaches.
Some went willingly but those that remained linked arms and refused to leave, many of them lying down, as police announced they would use "necessary force" unless they boarded "designated vehicles".
Groups of officers then began to cordon off and physically remove protesters, carrying them from the site.
A police tannoy said that all those remaining were under arrest for causing "obstruction and danger to road users" and for unauthorised assembly.
As of 6am, two groups of defiant protesters singing songs remained in a stand-off with police.
Those who were removed were taken to a police college in the south of Hong Kong, according to the South China Morning Post.
Police were not immediately able to confirm how many people had been arrested.
The confrontation followed a largely peaceful rally on Tuesday, which organisers said was a record turnout and the largest since the city was handed back to China in 1997.
Waving colonial-era flags and chanting anti-Beijing slogans, protesters demanded democratic reforms, reflecting surging discontent over Beijing's insistence that it vet candidates before a vote in 2017 for the semi-autonomous city's next leader.
The rally came after nearly 800,000 people took part in an informal referendum calling for voters to be allowed a say in the nomination of candidates.
Beijing branded the vote "illegal and invalid".
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