Love China or leave, Lu Ping tells Hong Kong's would-be secessionists

"Those who do not recognise they are Chinese should look at what is written on their passports or they should renounce their Chinese nationality."

So says Lu Ping, former director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. "Our country, which has a population of 1.3 billion, would not be bothered losing this handful of people," Lu stated in an exchange of email with the South China Morning Post.

Lu made the comments when attacking people in the city who do not want to acknowledge their nationality.

Under the Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China, people can apply to renounce their nationality if they are a close relative of a foreign national, are settled abroad, or for other legitimate reasons.

Lu told the Post he noted some people had waved the British flag and held up posters calling for "Hong Kong independence" at a recent protest in the city. "They claim the only way out for Hong Kong is to become an independent nation," he said.