I know this is hard for you because you're a conservative, but the protests in Hong Kong have nothing to do with American culture.
Pepe- in the US internet culture- is an alt-right appropriation.
The Hong Kong protesters saw it's popular use on the internet- but because they're not Americans who are fluent in English- they missed the nuance of it being used by Nazis.
Icon mascots have a long history in Asian cultures. they noticed that when they used Pepe images, those protests got more press coverage from American news outlets. Since they wanted more press coverage, they used Pepe more and more.
So. Again. The use of Pepe in Hong Kong is completely disconnected from its use in the US.