Mainlanders furious at HK newspaper ad(2)

"Hong Kong is now facing a serious aging-population problem and needs a lot of young people. Although the local government has introduced population policies, related supporting measures are lagging, and it is not right to attribute problems that have recently happened solely to mainlanders," Yu said.

Chow Po-chung, an associate professor with the Department of Government and Public Administration, wrote on his Facebook account that the ad made him feel ashamed as a Hongkonger and called on locals to avoid such insults to emigrants and mainlanders.

The controversial ad came about two weeks after Peking University professor Kong Qingdong caused strong dissatisfaction in Hong Kong with his controversial remarks.

On January 19, when commenting on an incident in which a mainland girl was reprimanded by Hongkongers for eating on the city's subway trains, Kong called Hong Kong people "dogs of British imperialists."

Some Hong Kong residents publicly protested against Kong's remarks.

On Tuesday, Peng Qinghua, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Hong Kong SAR, expressed deep regret over Kong's words.

Meanwhile, other factors have also led to the so-called mainland phobia in Hong Kong, including property investment from the mainland that has helped drive up local house prices and mainlanders' mass purchases of infant milk formula.

A recent survey by the University of Hong Kong found that more than 79 percent of Hong Kong people identified themselves as Hongkongers instead of Chinese. More identified themselves as "Asians" than as citizens of the People's Republic of China, AFP reported.

"Although 15 years have passed since Hong Kong returned to China, the mainland has not managed to win the hearts and minds of all Hongkongers due to differences in the political system and social customs," Chen Lijun, a professor at Sun Yat-Sen University, told the Global Times.

"Both the central and the regional government need to improve cooperation in dealing with issues such as mainland mothers-to-be giving birth in Hong Kong, and help people in the two areas better under each other's customs and conditions," Chen said.