There's reportedly a small cohort of Chinese mainlanders who have joined the Hong Kong protests

While many citizens of mainland China living in Hong Kong don't support the city's anti-government, pro-democracy protests, there is indeed a small cohort who have joined the demonstrations, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The decision to do so is far from without risks. Chinese authorities, for example, check travelers' smartphones as they cross the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, looking for evidence of participation at the rallies. But it's not only the government that is trying to ensure mainlanders don't get involved.

One 22-year-old woman, Betty Xu, remained in Hong Kong following her graduation from a local university this summer and has joined several of the protests, even posting pictures of them on the Chinese messaging service, WeChat. She says she has been accused by her childhood friends from back home of being brainwashed by Hong Kong and has deleted about 100 of them from her contacts whom she felt she could no longer trust.

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Another woman, who only provided the Journal with her surname, Chen, said the main reason she joined one of the protests is because she was agitated by Chinese media relaying inaccurate information to the mainland, such as the claims that the extradition bill that sparked the months-long demonstrations was widely supported in Hong Kong. Read more at The Wall Street Journal.