HSBC backs Chinese on Hong Kong security law

HSBC has publicly supported the controversial new national security law which China is imposing on Hong Kong – putting it at loggerheads with the UK Government.

The bank, which is based in the UK but makes most of its money in Asia, signalled its support for China in a post on social media platform Wechat. It said that Peter Wong, the chief executive of HSBC’s Asia business, had signed a petition in support of the law.

The post added: ‘We reiterate that we respect and support laws and regulations that will enable Hong Kong to recover and rebuild the economy and, at the same time, maintain the principle of “one country two systems”.’

That principle has existed in Hong Kong since the territory was returned to Chinese sovereignty from British control in 1997.

It allows Hong Kong to run its own government and legal and financial system, while ultimately remaining part of China. But the communist superpower now wants to impose new legislation on Hong Kong, which pro-democracy campaigners see as an unwelcome encroachment on independence.

HSBC has been under pressure to confirm its support for the new law and its stance is contrary to the Government, which has offered almost 3m Hong Kong citizens the right to live and work in the UK.

Joshua Wong, a prominent Hong Kong campaigner who has been arrested multiple times has urged the UK government to impose sanctions on China to force it to withdraw the legislation.