Police scuffle with protesters amid Hong Kong's Christmas shoppers

Small groups of anti-government protesters gathered in Hong Kong shopping malls on Sunday (December 15) amid sporadic scuffles with police.

In the peak retail season running up to Christmas, groups of masked protesters, clad in black, marched through malls, chanting slogans including "Fight for Freedom" and "Return justice to us." Police fired one tear gas canister outside the New Town Plaza mall in Shatin, and took away several people, after some entrances and walkways were blocked, glass panels smashed, and graffiti sprayed.

Protesters in Taikoo Plaza were seen singling out one shop that they believe is owned by a pro-Beijing company, putting up posters on the door and chanting slogans in front of it.

Hong Kong has been embroiled in its worst political crisis in decades, with nearly six months of anti-government protests posing a grave populist challenge to China's leader Xi Jinping, complicating ties between China and the U.S. at a time of heightened tensions including over trade.