Advertisement
Hong Kong’s top accounting firms added to mainland Chinese media’s protest hit list
- Tabloid claims staff from big four accounting firms crowdfunded advert in local newspaper in support of protests
- Firms responded by issuing separate statements distancing themselves from the advert
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
Hong Kong’s big four accounting firms have come under attack from mainland Chinese media for remaining silent and not doing enough to deal with employees who support ongoing anti-government protests in the city.
Nationalistic state-run tabloid Global Times led the charge with a report on Thursday, revealing a crowdfunding effort allegedly by staff of KPMG, Ernst & Young (EY), Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to pay for an advertisement in Hong Kong’s Apple Daily newspaper.
After the full-page advert appeared on Friday, Global Times followed up with a second report demanding the firms investigate who among their staff was behind it, and to sack them.
Advertisement
In the advert, an anonymous group claiming to be “concerned employees at the respective big four accounting firms across multiple departments” criticised the companies’ Hong Kong branches for ignoring the reasons for the protests and Hongkongers’ “yearning for democracy and freedom”.
Advertisement
It said statements issued by the firms did not represent the employees, and listed the five demands of anti-government protesters: that the Hong Kong government fully withdraw the extradition bill which triggered the protests; retract its characterisation of protests as “riots”; withdraw criminal charges against protesters; hold an independent inquiry into the actions of police; and implement universal suffrage.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Choose your listening speed
Get through articles 2x faster
1.25x
250 WPM
Slow
Average
Fast
1.25x