In Hong Kong, pro-democracy camp's protest marches have filled the streets for over one hundred days. The often violent clashes between Hong Kong citizens and riot police cracking down on protesters is a thorn in the side of Beijing. The authoritarian regime on the mainland desires to display the face of calm unity in its celebration of the 70th anniversary of the declaration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) on Oct. 1. A very different reality is unfolding each day alarming the global democracies.

The pro-democracy camp refers to a political alignment in Hong Kong that supports democratic reforms, namely the universal suffrage of the Chief Executive and the Legislative Council as given by the Basic Law under the "One Country, Two Systems."

Political tensions are building because the PRC is asserting the right to extradite sovereign Hong Kong citizens to stand trial for legal charges — not in the primary Hong Kong court system but those in the more severe secondary system. This opens the door to the arrest and deportation of political dissidents to China on vague or specious charges as a means to intimidate and repress democratic values the people in Hong Kong hold dear. They want China to honor their "One Country, Two Systems” basic legal system that forbids this extradition maneuver.

Santa Monica College (SMC) attracts hundreds of international students from China. Saihin Wong is a 20-year-old design student from Hong Kong. Wong was home in August and observed crowds of many “middle school students in as young as 14 years old.” The front lines of protesters in clashes with riot police are young. He explained the front line crowd wear masks to avoid being identified later on and being subject to arrest.

A pro-democracy activist, Joshua Wong, began organizing street demonstrations at age 14-years-old. In a recent Dateline Interview for Australian TV, Wong explained what the movement meant much to young people because they are Hong Kong’s future and they do not see a future of hope should they allow China to undermine their current democratic rights. He refers to “white terror”, the current practice of arresting and detaining protesters regardless of their age under threat of ten years in prison for protest activities.

The tech savvy young activists are armed with iPhones to record frontline clash with police. This measure taken together with today’s instant uploads to social media help insure the whole world is watching their actions from the pro-democracy perspective. China has a major facial recognition program to identify people in public settings.

Other frontline protest tactics include use of umbrellas to hide faces, ward off tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and provide cover that allows activist to dismantle mounted police street camera that records marcher’s activities. Nearly everyone in Hong Kong uses an umbrella each week because of frequent rain.

Hong Kong is considered the ATM or cash machine for the Chinese economy because of its more free-wheeling capitalistic practices in terms of business and trade. Tourism in Hong Kong is down 40 percent since July along with the economy off by 20 percent.

Saihin Wong, an international student in his second year at SMC, said, “I just want everything get back to normal. We get to do what we want and not get stopped. We can have different opinions. Not be told this is the right way. That is the wrong way . Let me mind my own business.”

Wong predicts the activist movement is “not going to stop soon.”

China threatened by massive Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations