Baton-wielding police have separated sparring pro-Beijing protesters and pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong, marking the latest development the Asian financial capital's civil unrest that has stretched into its third month.

Key points: Anti-Government protesters fear Beijing's erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms

Anti-Government protesters fear Beijing's erosion of Hong Kong's freedoms Pro-China protesters clashed with anti-Government protesters on Saturday

Pro-China protesters clashed with anti-Government protesters on Saturday Beijing has blamed foreign powers for stoking the unrest

The pro-China demonstrators chanted "Support the police" and "China, add oil" at a shopping centre, adapting a line used by anti-Hong Kong Government protesters which loosely means: "China, keep your strength up".

"Hong Kong is China," one woman shouted at passers by who shouted obscenities in return in an angry pushing and pulling standoff, marked more by the shouting than violence.

The clashes in the Kowloon Bay area of the former British colony spilled out onto the streets, with each confrontation captured by dozens of media and onlookers on their smart phones.

Police detained several people.

Police have been accused of brutality by anti-Government protesters. ( Reuters: Jorge Silva )

But the unrest was minor compared with previous weeks where anti-Government protesters attacked Hong Kong's Legislative Council, the Chinese Government's Hong Kong office, and have waged various street battles with police, resulting in fires, bricks being thrown and metro stations being damaged.

Police have responded with the firing of tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons.

Pro-democracy protesters stage a light show

Pro-democracy protesters pointed lasers off of Hong Kong island's highest vantage point, Lion Rock, on Friday. ( AP: Kin Cheung )

Protesters complaining about perceived Chinese interference in Hong Kong came out in their hundreds across the territory on Friday, singing and chanting during the Mid-Autumn Festival which spilled out onto the top of Victoria Peak — Hong Kong island's highest hill.

They also gathered in shopping centres — triggering occasional scuffles with flag-carrying China supporters — denouncing police for perceived brutality.

By Saturday, pro-democracy protesters also gathered in the New Territories district of Tin Shui Wai — in Hong Kong's northwest — with a brief standoff with police.

There were scattered scuffles between rival protesters elsewhere, including in the Fortress Hill area of Hong Kong island.

Pro-China demonstrators have come out in support of Hong Kong's police. ( Reuters: Jorge Silva )

"We need to keep coming out to tell the government to respond to our five demands, otherwise it will think we accept the withdrawal [of the extradition bill]," Mandy, a protester, said.

A controversial extradition bill — which would have allowed for extraditions with mainland China and other jurisdictions without extradition treaties — served as the catalyst of the territory's unrest.

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At one point, it was estimated that almost two million Hongkongers demonstrated on the city's streets to call for the bill's formal withdrawal in one protest alone.

That demand was met by Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam last week, after her Government suspended the bill in June.

The protests have since transcended that initial demand, and has broadened into a wider debate about the city's autonomy and identity under Chinese rule.

The bill's withdrawal was one of five formal demands of Hong Kong's protesters, which also included: the retraction of the word "riot" to describe rallies, the release of all detained demonstrators, an independent inquiry into perceived police brutality, and universal suffrage.

In Beijing's view, the unrest is an internal affair, though it has accused foreign powers, particularly the United States and Britain, of fomenting tensions.

Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 under a "one country, two systems" formula that would guarantee British capitalism, common law, and individual freedoms for a period of 50 years.

A similar governance structure exists in Macau, a former Portuguese colony handed back to China in 1999.

This was set in motion in 1984 by China's Deng Xiaoping and Britain's Margaret Thatcher, who formalised the terms of the handover in a document known as the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

In 2017, on the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China, Beijing said the joint declaration was not binding and "no longer had any practical significance".

But in recent weeks, China has re-iterated its commitment to the "one country, two systems" arrangement.

ABC/Reuters