NOTE: I expect this to be heavily down voted, but I hope that some people will fully read.

"Never spend more for an acquisition than you have to. "

Before reading below, I would recommend first watching this clip from DS9 for context.

Now onto the rest of the post.

While I hate to say it, unless something externally happens, with the current rate of progress the protests will fail. This is not cynicism but is reality based on how protests in China and other areas has occurred over the decades. Some succeed, more fail.

One of the reasons for this can be tied to the "cost for peace".

Currently the Hong Kong GDP now stands at approximately 2.7% of China's overall GDP - nearly $364 billion a year. While this seems like a small amount in the overall scheme of things, this is possible because Hong Kong acts as a "buffer" between the mainland and the rest of the world. China needs this "buffer" because it had led to the current economic prosperity in the mainland.

China uses Hong Kong’s currency, equity and debt markets to attract foreign funds, while international companies use Hong Kong as a launchpad to expand into mainland China. The bulk of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China continues to be channeled through the city. “Connect” schemes linking the Hong Kong "bourse" (stock market) with those in Shanghai and Shenzhen also provide the main gateway for foreigners to buy mainland stocks.

Due to these factors and the inequality of the police/government vs capabilities of protestors, this means that the "price for peace" in Hong Kong is currently at a high price for the protestors.

As long as the mainland/current HK government are spending less than they are making from Hong Kong, they will continue to do everything that they can to hold onto it.

Although the recent elections have put a large number of pro-democracy candidates into local councils, in the large scale of things they will be to do are severely limited and Hong Kong will continue to be controlled from Beijing.

Right now, protestors can barely hold themselves against the police and in the event that the PLA is brought in it will be a blood bath worse than Tiananmen Square.

So how can Hong Kong win its independence from Beijing/Mainland China?

When force will not work, we must then look at economics. Sometime it is also necessary to break something down before you can rebuild what you really want.

It is necessary to make holding onto Hong Kong more expensive than it would be to "let it go".

Trying to do this with public protests may not work, when it does not work then it is necessary to look at other options and take a more long term approach.

Commonly referred to as a "Fifth Column", it is sometimes necessary to bring down a corrupt system from the inside. For Hong Kong, this can be done by:

1. Join the HKPF. While this may seem counter intuitive, if you can do this and get into positions where you control movement of units or logistics, it allows for a lot of mayhem to be caused. Units being sent to "wrong locations" or logistics being "muddled" so that equipment can't get to the front lines can help the next set of protestors. Let "slip" information that can help protestors or bring to light the crimes committed by the HKPF.

2. If Beijing eventually allows it, join the PLA. Like the HKPF, this gives you an option to disrupt troop movements and logistics. However if large enough group can do this, and during the next set of protests were to side with the protestors, it would cause a serious breakdown. Those who control the military control the government.

3. Get jobs with pro-Beijing companies. All companies have "dirty little secrets", the trick is to bring these to light. The best way of doing this is to be in positions where you are "invisible" such as janitors or other "low" positions. It might surprise you, but such people are often privy to information that could not be obtained for years by someone rising through a company via the "normal" routes. Bring out a companies secrets can greatly harm the company, but by doing so you would hurt the bottom line of those who are in charge from Beijing.

This is just a few ideas, there are hundreds of ways in which a "Fifth Column" can function in society, however by making it more costly to hold onto Hong Kong, you make it more expensive for Hong Kong to be held and bring the "price of peace" down to a level that may be more feasible.

In the event that the current protests fail, you have 28 years to do the above.