Hong Kong - Comic Dayo Wong mined the pro-democracy protests for laughs at his stand-up show on Monday, likening China and Hong Kong's relationship to a dispute between a mother-in-law and a daughter-in-law.

Wong, a stand-up star who is headlining a string of shows at the Hong Kong Coliseum for the third time in his career, opened the first of his 11 shows this year by inviting audience members who were "in no mood to listen to jokes" to leave, said reports in Apple Daily and Ming Pao Daily News.

He once described Hong Kong, which was handed back to China in 1997, as an unwilling son: "A mother has kidnapped her son, who will pay the ransom?"

On Monday, he said China and Hong Kong's relationship had become a quarrel between in-laws, reported Ming Pao.

Hong Kong is the daughter-in-law who complains about her overbearing mother-in-law, and China is the mother-in-law who is unhappy at how the daughter-in-law is crying to strangers at British-and American-owned supermarkets, he said.

Hong Kong has been mired in a Occupy Central protest for a week. The protesters are demanding the right to vote for a leader of their choice in 2017. China wants to choose the candidates first.

Wong said it was like the mother-in-law breaking a promise to allow the daughter-in-law to take charge of the household. He characterised the protesters and the government's different interpretations of democracy as the difference between driving a car and operating a lift.

He said: "Taking charge is like driving a car and going everywhere, but operating a lift is just going up and down in the same place."

Wong, 54, is one of a few comedians to have played shows at the Coliseum. He has starred in TVB comedies including You're Hired (2009) and To Catch The Uncatchable (2004).

On Monday, stars such as singer Eason Chan, actor Julian Cheung and actress Anita Yuen attended Wong's set.