Hong Kong authorities on Tuesday deployed about 6,000 police officers after a court order authorized the clearance of a protest site which had remained for nearly two months in the district of Mong Kok. Police arrested about 80 protesters who refused to comply with the order, including pro-democracy activist and lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung. There was some inevitable confusion at the site, but the clearance was conducted as smoothly as expected.

With its goals appearing ridiculous and public support quickly diminishing, the Occupy Central campaign has failed. However, it does not mean the forces which plotted and instigated this movement will also lose their place in Hong Kong society. Extreme events like Occupy Central will probably recur.

But the fiasco may after all serve as a bitter lesson for both Hong Kong opposition groups and some Hong Kong residents who feel pity for these protesters. The most crucial part of the lesson should be that the odds will never be in their favor if the opposition groups engage in a direct confrontation with the central government. Their radical illusion of reshaping Hong Kong is like tilting at windmills. It will never come to pass.

The Occupy Central movement is not solely watched or felt by Hong Kong residents. This whole event is also open to the Chinese mainland public. The extreme opposition in Hong Kong wished that at least a portion of mainlanders would be agitated enough to support their cause, which would then deal a blow to the central government. However, their trump card proved to be wishful thinking. This incident on the streets of Hong Kong has barely made any impact on the entire country.

Public discourse in the mainland remains calm in face of the hustle and bustle on Hong Kong's streets. Only a handful of mainlanders pandered to what the opposition groups called for, but their voices were soon smothered by mainstream opinion.

Since a white paper on the practice of the "one country, two systems" policy in Hong Kong was released in June, the central government has specified all the major principles of the basic system to the Hong Kong public, an effort which has rejected and denounced all heterodox interpretations.

The central government has exercised restraint on this matter without exerting its strength directly. It expressed its objections to the movement and then preserved a dignified and silent bearing. What the opposition parties asked for has been scorned.

Hong Kong is still disturbed by conflicting concepts about the orientation of its society, but the ruling principles of "one country, two systems" have been unequivocally expounded to the public, and shall not be subverted.

The Occupy Central campaign has been reduced to nothing more than chaos on the streets, and the price has to be paid by many innocent Hongkongers. But we should have confidence in the wisdom of the Hong Kong authorities, which will help their society regain rationality and call an end to extreme activities. 

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