Rioters in Hong Kong have clashed with riot police in upscale malls in Hong Kong during a series of flashmob rallies.

Riot police used pepper spray and batons to beat back angry crowds after officers made arrests inside Harbour City, a luxury mall in Tsim Sha Tsui, one of Hong Kong’s busiest shopping districts.

Also at one mall in the teeming Mong Kok district, police used pepper spray to disperse protesters.

The protesters were throwing umbrellas and other objects at police.

Scores of black-clad protesters held placards and chanted slogans such as Revive Hong Kong, revolution of our time, and Hong Kong independence as they roamed the malls.

Many families had congregated in the same area to view the Christmas lights along the promenade in the Tsim Sha Tsui East tourist district of Kowloon, the spectacular backdrop of Hong Kong Island on the opposite side of the harbor.

Hong Kong’s many malls have become regular protest venues as the city convulses from months of increasingly violent rallies.

The protests, now in their seventh month, have lost some their earlier scale and intensity, however.

Last month, the residents of the Chinese territory of Hong Kong took to the streets in a move to express support for the police, who had become a prime target of attacks by masked protesters.

Waving Chinese and Hong Kong flags, hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the city’s legislature and police headquarters on November 16.

The semi-autonomous Chinese territory has been rocked by turbulent protests since June, when some people began protesting against a proposed extradition bill, since withdrawn.

The Chinese government says the United States and Britain have been fanning the flames of the unrest in Hong Kong by supporting rioters.

Hong Kong has been governed under a one-country, two-system model since the city - a former British colony - was returned to China in 1997.