By Anne Marie Roantree and Clare Baldwin HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong activists threatening to blockade the financial district in protest against China’s curbs on democracy said Beijing had “brutally strangled” their hopes but that they would persevere with the struggle. Hong Kong is bracing for a wave of protests after Beijing on Sunday ruled out fully democratic elections for the city’s leader in 2017, sparking a political showdown with democrats. Police on Monday used pepper spray to disperse activists who heckled and jeered a senior Chinese official who flew to Hong Kong to explain the decision by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee. Although this target has been brutally strangled by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the significance of our movement will not end at this point,” the Occupy Central with Love and Peace movement said in a statement emailed to reporters on Tuesday.