• Millions of people have descended on Hong Kong for over 16 weeks of pro-democracy protests that have turned violent at times and show little signs of slowing.
• Some of the protesters — many of whom are students below the age of 29 —  have expressed a readiness and willingness to die in the demonstrations, which have seen at least 1,400 of their peers arrested.
• At least four protesters have died by apparent suicide since protests began. Experts told Business Insider that an unstable environment can contribute to thoughts of self-harm.
• Two protesters who Business Insider spoke to for this article expressed similar feelings of despair and fear for their futures.
• Two others, one teacher and one youth psychologist who both work closely with protesters, told Business Insider that they have encountered students who expressed distress over the current state of affairs in the city.
• "We believe this is the last stand for our future and freedom," a 22-year-old protester told Business Insider. "We'd rather die in the fight than slowly suffocate to death after we lose the fight.

They're dressed in an all-black uniform, faces distorted behind gas masks, using umbrellas as shields, and following a sophisticated set of hand motions which act as their form of communication. 

For more than three months, millions of civilians have been protesting the Hong Kong government.

What began as a rally against a proposed bill that would have allowed for the extradition of Hong Kong residents to China to face trial has ballooned into a much more symbolic battle to fight Chinese encroachment in the semi-autonomous region.

About 60% of protesters are younger than 29, while nearly 75% of protesters have some form of higher education. And for many young protesters, weekly demonstrations have become an increasingly more desperate, sometimes violent fight against what they see as a shrinking view of their future. 

Unlike the city's high concentration of super-wealthy, the youth of Hong Kong are struggling to afford to live in one of the world's most expensive cities. A recent economic shift hit "educated, white-collar professionals" particularly hard, The New York Times reported. "Wages stalled or declined. What they made bought far less. Many became less well-off than their parents had been."

The average price of a home in Hong Kong in 2019 is $1.2 million. Graffiti near a protest site calls out the average rent for a small room in a shared apartment: "7K for a house like a cell and you really think we out here scared of jail," referring to HK$7,000, or $893. 

Additionally many feel uncertain about their future in the Chinese territory once the "one country, two systems" agreement ends in 2047.

To the protesters who spoke to Business Insider, the continued demonstrations are a matter of life and death.

"We believe this is the last stand for our future and freedom," Chan, 22, a recent college graduate and protester who requested we use only his last name, told Business Insider over the messaging app Telegram in early August. "We'd rather die in the fight than slowly suffocate to death after we lose the fight."

Protesters have 5 key demands 

Protest groups have put forward five key demands, which continue to fuel demonstrations and have become a rallying cry for many protesters: 

• A full withdrawal of the extradition bill;
• Retraction of the characterization of protests as riots;
• The release of protesters arrested by police unlawfully;
• Establishing an independent inquiry into allegations of police brutality and excessive use of force against protesters; 
• Carrie Lam's resignation and the introduction of fair and free elections in the city.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam scrapped the incendiary extradition bill on September 4 in a long-awaited concession, promising to formally withdraw the legislation without debate or voting in the next council, which is set to resume in October. 

Still, some pro-democracy activists have called the move "too little and too late," and protests, particularly among students, have continued with no signs of slowing. Large-scale protests are also expected ahead of two anniversaries: the five year marker of the Umbrella Movement this weekend and the 70th anniversary of the formation of the People's Republic of China on Tuesday.

Violence on the 'front lines'

Chan considers himself a "frontline protester," someone stationed at the forefront of demonstrations directly facing off against riot police who are armed with tear gas, batons, rubber bullets, beanbag rounds, and even live ammunition. 

"I believe almost all frontline protesters, including myself, are ready to be arrested or die in protests," Chan told Business Insider last month.

Though a portion of protests over the last 16 weeks have been peaceful and largely without incident, offshoot groups of protesters — growing more and more infuriated with government inaction and allegations of police brutality — have frequentlyclashed with police, throwing bricks, umbrellas, and other objects at law enforcement.

Hardline activists have been criticized by police for their violent tactics. In recent months, groups of protesters have stormed and ransacked the city's Legislative Building, surrounded the city's police headquarters, and occupied the city's airportfor days, disrupting flights and causing tourism to plummet.

Police have ramped up their responses to protests in tandem, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at crowds, infiltrating protest groups using disguises and arresting people en masse. Protesters have also suggested that police have employed the use of organized gangs in order to carry out attacks on commuters.

On September 19, Amnesty International released results from a field investigationwhich revealed instances of severe beatings, arbitrary arrests, and threats of violence towards protesters at the hands of police. 

While peaceful activism has helped the movement spread their message to the mainstream, many protesters are wary that demonstrations alone will actually achieve results without disrupting the status quo.

The 2014 Umbrella Movement, also known as Occupy Central, saw similar scenes of peaceful protests interlaced with violent clashes. After 79 days, the protests ended, but the movement's core goal — establishing true, universal suffrage — was never actualized. Nine pro-democracy campaigners were convicted for their leadership roles in the protests, with four handed jail sentences this past April.

"It's proven that violence, to some degree, will be useful," a 30-year-old protester told Reuters last month. 

On September 22, hundreds of pro-democracy protesters turned out across the city, vandalizing shops and metro stations and setting fires to police barricades. 

Police launched tear gas and pepper spray at demonstrators. Two 13-year olds were arrested and accused of burning a Chinese flag. 

More than 100 days have passed since protests began. In that time, over 1,400 people have been arrested, according to Bloomberg, and at least 70 people have been charged with rioting, the South China Morning Post estimates, a criminal offense that carries a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

Protesters are willing to die for freedom

A protester actively working on the frontlines who requested anonymity due to fears for her safety told Business Insider that protesters, including herself, see the current fight against Chinese influence as an "end game," and she said she has engaged with protesters who have expressed a readiness to die in continued clashes.

"They say that if Hong Kong has no future, I have no future either," she told Business Insider. "So I may as well fight or die for it."

She said that she has spoken to several protesters under the age of 20⁠ — some as young as 12 ⁠— who turn up to protests anticipating violence. Some carry suicide notes or a last will and testament in their bags.

"They fight, they're very ready to die," she said.

Chan said he, too, always has a note addressing his family inside of his bag in case confrontations turn violent.

In July, masked assailants linked to organized crime gangs stormed the Yuen Long Metro Station in the city's north and attacked commuters returning from protests.

A few weeks ago, a young female medic was hit in the eye by a bean bag round shot by police. Police denied the claims and said there was no evidence that officers had caused her injury.

"It's just a matter of time before they eventually kill someone," Chan said. "There have been multiple times that riot police claimed that they will hit us to death. We Hong Kong citizens are frightened, every frontline protester is frightened."

For Chan, the current climate is a win or lose scenario.

"This time is our last effort to fight for our democracy," he added. "We have been shot, beaten, overwhelmed with tear gas. We are risking our life and future. We just wanted to enjoy democracy. We are prepared to die. Because Hong Kong is our home, our beloved home."

Experts say protests have left people feeling hopeless and helpless

Protests have not only consumed Hong Kong's physical space, but according to experts, they are taking a mental toll on protesters.

At least four protesters have died by apparent suicide in the last few months. Several suicide-prevention groups previously shared that they had received more calls since protests began, the South China Morning Post reported.

"This is a public mental health situation," Clarence Tsang, the executive director of suicide-prevention group Samaritan Befrienders, told the Post.

Protesting appears to dominate the daily discourse for Hong Kong's youth. A teacher and a youth psychologist who both work closely with protesters told Business Insider last month that they have encountered students who expressed distress over the current state of affairs in the city. 

Henry Ng, a lecturer at Hong Kong University and expert in social psychology, told Business Insider that there has been a "general sense of hopelessness and helplessness" among protesters, many of whom are students or young adults. "The two feelings may cause people to become numb to the situation," Ng said.

He added that in terms of cognitive development, young protesters, particularly teenagers, may be more susceptible to group influences and may be less developed in terms of inhibitory control. Ng says this may explain why the city's youth have been drawn to more violent means of protest.

Another lecturer at Hong Kong University, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution at work, told Business Insider in August that the general sentiment among protesters was that violence is "inevitable" because of lack of response by the government to more peaceful methods of protest.

She added that in her experience, many young protesters felt like they had "nothing to lose" and that "blood is ready to be shed because there is no future ahead."

A youth psychologist who requested to be identified only by his last name, Ching, told Business Insider in August that a combination of feelings — fury over police use of force, confusion about the government's lack of response, distrust towards the Hong Kong legal system, and worry over Hong Kong's future — dominated the mindset of protesters that he had spoken to.

Ching recalled an incident in July during a memorial service for one of the protesters who died by suicide, in which he was on hand to give "psychological first aid" to those in attendance. He said as the evening wore on, he tended to a 14-year-old protester who expressed concern over retribution towards his family for his activity in protests, which progressed into suicidal ideation.

"Overwhelmed and feeling helpless, Hong Kongers are inexperienced in facing such large scale protests and desperation," he said. "They are using different methods and ways to express their anger and frustration." 

Ng said steps were being taken to address the mental well-being of young protesters, including the creation of task forces in local universities in order to address the psychological needs of their students.

Ching said those within his organization are conducting psychological first aid training and have set up public outreach services, like counseling, for teachers and students, as the city's youth have been most affected by protests.

"We as health professionals can help repair the injury and the psychological impact [of protests]," he said. "At the end of the day, only the government is in the position and has power to prevent the movement from further escalation, and stop tragedy from going on and on."

In an attempt to better understand protesters, Lam in July offered to hold closed-door meetings with university students from across the city to address their concerns. Earlier this week she held an "open dialogue" town hall, where 150 people in the movement shared their feelings about her leadership. Protesters then blockaded the stadium where the meeting was held. 

Though the extradition bill has been withdrawn, protesters are preparing for the long haul

Ching told Business Insider on September 11 that protesters will continue to turn out until their five demands are met "and not one less."

"The withdrawal has only made a small difference on the movement from the protester's point of view," he said.

A protester actively working on the frontlines told Business Insider earlier this month that while protesters have begun to shift their focus onto the other key demands outlined, her mindset on protesting remains the same.

"I think our methods have changed a lot since August," she said. "But I think one thing that really has shown itself to be more clear is that we do not separate from each other."

"Whether we are peaceful or whether we are on the frontlines, [our methods] are inseparable."

She said that although uncertainty lies ahead, the situation in the city for her remains a matter of life and death.

"The fight is definitely not over yet."

Compiled by Olalekan Adeleye

Business Insider