FERGUSON, Missouri — Along with signs dedicated to Mike Brown, protesters in Ferguson on Sunday night also had banners of support for Hong Kong, where political demonstrations have turned the city into a scene of tear gas-fueled clashes.

The signs, which read "Stay Strong" and "Hands Up! Don't Shoot!" in both English and traditional Chinese, were created by Keith Rose, who has been protesting in Ferguson since Aug. 11. Though Rose has been tear-gassed, arrested and even had a seizure while marching, the protests have cost him much more: his relationship with his best friend, who is from Guangzhou.

Keith Rose, a Ferguson protester, holds a sign in support of Hong Kong during a demonstration on Sept. 28. Image: Amanda Wills, Mashable

When Rose first started protesting after police shot and killed Mike Brown, he says his friend, who was born shortly after Tiananmen Square and speaks a minority language of that area, didn't agree with the march because he said Rose "didn't understand true oppression."

"He said we had it so good here and didn't agree with the protests," Rose said, as we stood behind a crowd of protesters who chanted in front of the Ferguson Police station. Some of the protesters carried the signs that Rose had printed just hours earlier.

Nearly two months after officer Darren Wilson shot and killed Brown, protesters here still raise their hands nightly during planned demonstrations.

Protesters gather in front of the Ferguson Police Station on Sept. 28.

To some observers, it would seem that echoes of Ferguson have stretched across the world. Thousands of miles away, political protesters upset over Beijing's decision to limit political reforms used the same symbolic "hands up, don't shoot" gesture after police there used tear gas to break up the crowd.

However, according to at least one report, there is no direct confirmation that protesters in Hong Kong are using the "hands up" gesture as a sign of solidarity with protesters in Ferguson.

Protesters wearing masks and goggles to shield from pepper spray block a police car outside the government headquarters in Hong Kong, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2014. Image: Vincent Yu/Associated Press

Nevertheless, Hong Kong's demonstrations appear to have bolstered the spirits of Ferguson demonstrators this evening. It's one more thing they want to march for, and that includes Rose. When I asked what his Chinese friend thought of the signs he was passing out Sunday evening, he said he didn't know because Ferguson has truly torn them apart.

Why still march out here every night then? I asked Rose.

"I came out here for a day," he said, "and the police convinced me to stay."