Secretary for Justice Elsie Leung Oi-sie yesterday accused intellectuals of having lacked faith in the future of the mainland and SAR.
Miss Leung said controversies in the SAR had arisen because of the mentality of some people in Hong Kong, particularly intellectuals.
'Under colonial rule, people lived on borrowed time in a borrowed place. Many of them were not willing to take root in Hong Kong.
'With the approach of the reunification, they had the feeling that we were standing at a precarious moment in our history, that the future of the people of Hong Kong was inseparable from that of China, but they had neither faith in the future of China, nor that of Hong Kong. While accepting that the concept of 'one country, two systems' is a creative totem of ideological pragmatism, they would have rejected the metamorphosis of Hong Kong from a British colony to Special Administrative Region if there were any alternatives.
'Therefore, whenever there is a perception that any right or freedom is likely to be threatened, they raise a hue and cry, but often it is no more than a perception,' she said.
Miss Leung, addressing a conference on Hong Kong's future, said problems had worsened as the need for change and reform arose after the handover.
