HSBC HITS OUT AT DEMOCRACY PROTESTS
Bank is accused of support for Chinese regime with adverts attacking ‘disruption’
HSBC and Standard Chartered have been accused of bending the knee to China’s Communist leadership after they published anti-protest adverts in Hong Kong newspapers.
The two British lenders were slammed by democracy campaigners for backing the Chinese regime, which is seeking to crack down on demonstrations that have rocked Hong Kong for more than two months.
In a full-page newspaper advert, HSBC condemned ‘the disruption caused to the communities in which our customers, staff and shareholders live’.
Leaders of the protests, who have faced threats and intimidation from Beijing for defying its autocratic rulers, were enraged.
Joshua Wong, an activist who was twice jailed for his involvement in previous democracy campaigns, said: ‘It’s no surprise that Standard Chartered and HSBC are running anti-protest ads.
‘It just shows how much proBeijing interference there is in Hong Kong, eroding the open business environment.’ The HSBC advert appeared in the Hong Kong Economic Times, Hong Kong Economic Journal, Sing Tao, Wen Wei Pao and Ta Kung Pao.
Printed in Chinese, it added: ‘Hong Kong has thrived as a result of its stability and resilience. Maintaining its rule of law is essential to Hong Kong’s unique status as an international financial centre.
‘That is why we fully support the ambition to resolve the present situation peacefully.’
Attempting to strike a conciliatory tone, HSBC – whose roots in the former British colony date back to 1865 – said it had a ‘deep and special bond with Hong Kong and its people’.
But Matthew Henderson, director of the Asia Studies Centre at think-tank the Henry Jackson Society, said: ‘Last month, the protesters begged HSBC to speak out in their support.
‘But now these banks have publicly distanced themselves from the protest movement.
‘These advertisements look like the result of political pressure.’
HSBC likes to parade its liberal credentials, but last month, the lender’s then-chief executive John Flint came under fire after he said the country’s Communist system had ‘served its people really well’, despite evidence of widespread repression in Tibet and ‘re-education’ camps – considered political prisons – for Uighur Muslims.
The protests in Hong Kong – which runs under a ‘one country, two systems’ policy, meaning it is technically part of China but has a degree of freedom – began earlier this year.
They were a response to Beijing pressuring the territory’s government to pass an extradition bill which would allow authorities to detain and extradite to the mainland any citizens who criticised the Communist regime.
The bill was later suspended, but protests have continued as Hong Kong’s citizens fear China is attempting to increase its iron grip on their homeland.
Standard Chartered’s ad was in Wen Wei Po, Ta Kung Pao and Sing Tao Daily, and said: ‘We strongly support “one country, two systems”, and support the SAR [Special Administrative Region] government in effectively maintaining social stability and safety.’
A spokesman said: ‘With a presence in Hong Kong for 160 years, Standard Chartered is fully committed to the city. We hope to see a peaceful resolution.’
HSBC declined to comment.