He has also been criticized for claiming Hong Kong was unlikely to reach emissions targets set recently by the WTO.
"This is not the sort of defeatist thing we want to hear from our leaders," said Paul Zimmerman, head of a high-profile pressure group dedicated to improving the quality of life in Hong Kong.
"If they are not prepared to do anything, how can they expect the citizens to try?" he asked, adding that there seemed to be a "cynical" plot going on.
"The government doesn't want to put any initiatives forward because it simply doesn't want to have to do anything. This is a problem that is going to take a lot of knuckling down and hard negotiating with China," said Zimmerman, who was also on the radio phone-in show with Tsang.
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