Students clashed over the Hong Kong government's cancellation of scheduled talks with pro-democracy protesters Thursday, who had said the movement had “shaken the trust” of the negotiations by threatening to expand and intensify protests.

Hours before, local student-led protesters had called on supporters to ramp up demonstrations ahead of the talks to put pressure on the government to give concessions. 

USC freshman James Tseng called the latest events a “very sticky situation." Tseng is a member of USC Democracy for Hong Kong, a newly formed group that supports Occupy Central and other pro-democracy groups through grassroots events here in Los Angeles. 

If the government gives in to the protesters, it could embolden other regions to start their own protests, said Tseng.

Cracking down too hard, however, could affect Chinese relations with other countries and reduce chances of a peaceful resolution, he said. “If they see that China can do this to Hong Kong, then China might as well do it to Taiwan," another state that has historically wrestled with issues of sovereignty.

While Tseng doesn’t think protesters would have gotten much from the talks, he believes the demonstrations were as a first step in Hong Kong’s political reawakening. 

“In the end, even if we don’t succeed, there has already been a big impact on Chinese politics,” he said.

Cathie So is also a member of USCDHK. Several of her friends have taken part in the protests, and “they don’t want to give up until they get what they were promised before,” she said. 

So acknowledges the difficulties of negotiating with the Hong Kong government, which has already flatly rejected the protesters’ key demand of universal suffrage. Echoing the sentiment of 17-year-old protest leader Joshua Wong, however, she’s calling on demonstrators to hold the line.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance. If we just surrender without any conditions… we’re not gonna get any more than the fake democratic system we have right now," she said.

The Occupy Central movement flared in large numbers in recent weeks in large part due to the Chinese government's declaration that candidates for Hong Kong's leader, known as the Chief Executive, would have to be approved by a pro-Beijing committee. For decades, the Beijing-based Chinese central government has governed Hong Kong under the “one country, two systems" principle stipulated in Britain's 1997 handover of the city, and the public has grown contentious over the Basic Law, a Chinese constitutional document granting Hong Kong political autonomy. 

SEE ALSO: A Who's Who In Protest Talks

The cancellation of talks between protesters and the government could reinvigorate the pro-democracy movement. Demonstrations had been thinning out in recent days, as locals gradually grew impatient with the standoff, with several businesses and government organizations citing disruptions in their operations. 

A representative from USC's Anti-Occupy Central Pro-Democracy Organization said in a Facebook interview that the talks would have accomplished nothing. The Chinese government can’t allow Hong Kong to have political independence because it would prove that “radical protests can gain democracy,” commented the student. 

The group believes protesters have derailed long-term independence talks. “I wish Occupy Central had not happened at all because it has put China in an embarrassing situation which has set up a more difficult ground for future negotiations on democracy in Hong Kong,” the representative wrote. 

Protesters are hoping to expand their presence in the coming days. Though the outcome of it all is uncertain, pro-democracy group members say that this kind of action was long overdue. 

“I think more and more people realize that protesting against the government is a viable path to fight for democracy,” says Calvin Chau, a business administration student at USC who has friends close to the protests. 

“I think that’s the good outcome of this protest, even though we can’t get anything out of it from the government.”

Contact Staff Reporter Jonathan Tolliver here. Follow him on Twitter here.