HSBC, Standard Chartered, Bank of East Asia speak up against violence, call for peace as Hong Kong’s protests continue

HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of East Asia took out full-page and quarter-page advertisements in several of Hong Kong’s Chinese-language newspapers to call for a return to peace and public order

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Confrontation outside the Bank Centre in Mong Kok on 7 July 2019 as protesters marching from Tsim Sha Tsui through Nathan Road arrive at Mong Kok. Photo: SCMP/Dickson Lee

Published: 3:47pm, 22 Aug 2019Updated: 12:03am, 23 Aug 2019

HSBC, Standard Chartered and Bank of East Asia have spoken up against the violence that has taken over 11 weeks of popular opposition to a controversial extradition bill, joining a chorus of Hong Kong’s biggest companies to call for calm amid the worst political crisis in the city’s history.

The three banks – two of which are among the city’s three currency issuers – took out advertisements in several Chinese-language broadsheet newspapers in Hong Kong to call for calm and a return to order.

HSBC’s full-page advertisements appeared in five newspapers while Standard Chartered took out full pages in three, including Singtao Daily. Bank of East Asia took out quarter-page statements in three newspapers, including the Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po.

The three banks are the latest to speak up, joining more than a dozen of the city’s largest property developers, the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms and Cathay Pacific in recent weeks to declare their support for the status quo, amid a crisis that has divided Hong Kong’s population. Even Li Ka-shing, the city’s wealthiest businessman, came out from retirement to take out advertisements to call for restraint.

What began as a peaceful march on June 9 involving an estimated 1 million people against a controversial extradition bill has deteriorated into frequent clashes between riot police and protesters over nearly three months.