Hong Kong protest: Riot police clash with protesters as march descends into violence - CNN

When protesters in Hong Kong targeted the Chinese government's headquarters in the city, social media users in China were united in outrage.

"The dignity of our motherland won't be allowed to be trampled," one person wrote on Weibo, the country's highly-censored equivalent to Twitter, while another warned the young protesters that "playing violently is how you seek death."

A third commenter sought to reassure others, writing that "the central government promised that Hong Kong won't be changed for 50 years. There's only 28 years left before Hong Kong becomes part of (China)."

That 2047 deadline, on which the clock began ticking after the United Kingdom handed Hong Kong over to China in 1997, is at the forefront of the minds of the mostly young protesters who have been taking to the streets for almost two months now, in increasingly violent confrontations with police and pro-government groups.

What began as protests over a now-suspended extradition bill have broadened to cover a host of demands, including calls for greater democracy and more government accountability, that many feel they are running out of time to achieve.

Even as democratic values have increasingly come under threat around the world, and many voters in democracies are increasingly expressing apathy or despair, young Hong Kongers are determined to continue a fight for freedom which began decades ago under British rule, before time runs out and Hong Kong becomes just another Chinese city.

"Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our times," protesters chanted on Saturday in Yuen Long.