A defiant secretary for security has defended her controversial handling of the national security laws consultation, rounding on her critics and asking: 'What have I done wrong?'
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee stood by comments about Adolf Hitler's rise to power, as well as remarks that taxi drivers and restaurant waiters would not be interested in details of the bill.
'I think looking back, of course one could always say there are ways in which we could have done better. But I can't really say that some genuine mistakes were made,' she said in an interview with the South China Morning Post.
Mrs Ip said she regretted using Hitler's name during a heated public forum over the proposals for legislation under Article 23 of the Basic Law. But she added: 'I don't feel my remarks are entirely without justification.'
The security chief came under fire in November for her comment during a debate at City University: 'Don't believe democracy will be a panacea. Adolf Hitler was returned by universal suffrage and he killed seven million Jews.'
Mrs Ip told the Post the remark had been seized on by Western journalists and her critics. But she added: 'Jewish people in Hong Kong - more than one - have told me they agree with me . . .
