HONG KONG - Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang mentioned the recent Occupy Wall Street movement during a radio show on Wednesday saying he had "a lot of sympathy" for people who reacted to it.

Responding to a caller's question, Tsang said banks had made a lot of money, got into trouble, had to have the government bail them out, and then bankers got the lion's share again through their bonuses.

"People can quite rightly ask whether this was unjust," he said.

He noted that the situation in Hong Kong is different as no taxpayers' money was used to bail out any banks.

While developers here seem to be very rich and that is reflected in housing prices, Tsang said the government does provide housing for the grassroots and the very poor.

"Whether we like it or not, we are a capitalist society."

To tackle the wealth gap that will always exist in such a society, "we try to help the poorest with housing, retrain them, educate their children, help them move up the social chain," he said.

Asked why he was reluctant to raise taxes, Tsang said by doing so, people would be prompted to leave the city where human capital is the main resource for being the international financial center.