Hong Kong protesters like to adopt some of the phrases used by African-Americans during their successful American campaign for justice, including "sit-ins" and "nonviolent civil disobedience." They are obviously trying to claim the same moral authority the American civil rights movement had.

My family back home has genuine veterans of the American civil rights struggle. So when I have discussions with friends and family back home, we invariably come to the question: Do these Hong Kong protesters have anything in common with the real freedom fighters of half a century ago?

The answer is always no. Because although they borrow our words, unlike black Americans 51 years ago, these Hong Kong protesters are asking for too much, in the wrong place, at the wrong time in history.

First, five decades ago African-Americans were marching against an oppressive system that had discriminated against them for 400 years. Resisting that oppression was necessary.

But I don't think any Hong Kong people can say they have suffered discrimination. In fact, since 1997 Hong Kong has enjoyed a much higher level of social and political freedom than any other region in China.

Second, Martin Luther King's marches and demonstrations always followed the law. In fact, he would sometimes delay a march until his group had obtained permission from a federal court.

By following the law closely, he was able to achieve his goals without any of his followers committing acts of violence or disrupting society.

Finally, Martin Luther King always linked his movement to the larger values of human rights and justice. But we've already established that Hong Kong is not suffering from any deprivation of human rights.

Hong Kong cannot be viewed in a vacuum. The larger good is the coherence and sovereignty of the nation. If an anti-central government candidate were elected the leader of Hong Kong, it's not hard to imagine the next step would be Hong Kong talking about "independence."

Furthermore, since Hong Kong already enjoys more freedoms than other parts of China, giving in to protestors' demands would grant them even more privileges that the other Chinese regions don't have.

That wouldn't be fair at all. At that point, it could even be said that the Chinese government is essentially discriminating against the rest of China.

That is not justice. That's asking for far too much.

James K. Smith, a teacher of writing and debate at Shenzhen University