We are not the cause of Hong Kong’s problems: China

Senior Chinese government official says Hong Kong should be grateful to mainland tourists.

"After the 2008 financial crisis, Hong Kong experienced some difficulties, and hoped that mainland compatriots would continue to go to Hong Kong to increase tourist revenue," said Lu Xinhua, spokesman for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

"Due to inadequate facilities or infrastructure, Hong Kong could not cope with that many mainland tourists, which created a series of problems, and many mainland tourists complained too."

"What I want to stress here is that Hong Kong is China's territory. It was a British colony for more than 160 years, but now has returned to the motherland," he noted.

Lu is a former deputy foreign minister. He was China’s senior Foreign Ministry official in Hong Kong for six years until 2012.

Lu’s comments follow persistent complaints by Hong Kong residents that the unremitting flood of mainland Chinese visitors was inundating Hong Kong, leading to higher prices, congestion and unhappiness with the city’s government led by Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying.

In 2012, over 30 million mainland Chinese visited Hong Kong. This was four times the city's population and caused concerns about the ability of the city's infrastructure to cope with the visitor flood.