Hong Kong - Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang had bananas hurled at him as he delivered a policy speech Wednesday in a protest over the government's treatment of poor elderly people.

Three legislators with the pro-democracy League of Social Democrats were ejected from the city's Legislative Council as they shouted abuse and threw bananas during Tsang's annual policy address.

None of the bananas hit the chief executive, who looked stunned at the protest over the government's alleged lack of support for elderly people struggling to cope with rising food prices.

Beijing-appointed Tsang's administration has been accused in recent months of being slow to react to calls for extra money to help poor elderly people who are suffering because of high inflation.

One of the ejected legislators, Leung Kwok-hung, said of Tsang afterwards: "He is empty in some respects. He is white in the middle and yellow in the skin outside, just like a banana.

"Elderly people are suffering, but Donald Tsang doesn't understand," Leung added. "He doesn't understand real life in the streets. He doesn't understand real life for the underdogs and grassroots."

Tsang said in his speech that a proposed 1,000-Hong Kong-dollar-a-month (128.86-US-dollar-a-month) increase in benefit payments for elderly people was "reasonable" but should be means-tested.

The rich-poor divide in Hong Kong has widened considerably in recent years as the economy in the city of 6.9 million has boomed, a number of surveys have found. (dpa)