US lawmakers demand HSBC explain move to freeze accounts of Hong Kong opposition activists, groups
- In a letter, the lawmakers also pointedly ask the banking giant whether its actions have contributed to the erosion of Hongkongers’ rights and freedoms
- The letter says the bank’s answers will assist in the oversight of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, which allows for sanctions on those who undermine human rights and democracy in the city
A bipartisan group of US lawmakers has demanded HSBC explain its decision to freeze the accounts of several Hong Kong opposition figures and groups in recent years, pointedly asking the banking giant whether its actions have contributed to the erosion of residents’ rights and freedoms.
In a letter sent to HSBC group chief executive Noel Quinn on Monday and released to the public overnight on Thursday, six US senators and seven members of the House of Representatives noted that public statements of support for the Beijing-imposed national security law by then HSBC Asia-Pacific CEO Peter Wong Tung-shun had served to “heighten our concern”.
The letter’s signatories all belong to the bicameral Congressional-Executive Commission on China.
The lawmakers also alluded to restrictions placed on the accounts of American citizens, including at HSBC branches in the United States, and to British National (Overseas) passport holders being barred from withdrawing pension funds from the bank when leaving the city for the United Kingdom.
The latter, the lawmakers said, “raises questions whether HSBC is aiding and abetting the government’s policy to restrain exit”.
Since January 2021, BN(O) passport holders have been unable to claim their Mandatory Provident Fund earnings after the Hong Kong government ceased to recognise the document as valid proof of identity or for immigration clearance.
“We ask HSBC to address the concerns stated above and to justify why these actions were taken, including whether these actions were requested by Hong Kong authorities or officials from the People’s Republic of China,” the letter said.
Among the frozen accounts mentioned in the letter were those of jailed media tycoon Jimmy Lai Chee-ying, fugitive ex-lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung and the now-disbanded Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, organiser the annual vigil commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
The letter concludes by asking HSBC whether any of its actions “contribute in any way to the ‘inability of the people of Hong Kong (a) to enjoy freedom of assembly, speech, press, or independent rule of law; or (b) to participate in democratic outcomes’ as stipulated under the Hong Kong Autonomy Act”.
The 2020 legislation allows for sanctions on individuals and entities “complicit in undermining human rights and democracy” in the city, according to a statement from the commission released alongside the letter.
Asked about the letter on Friday, an HSBC spokesman said the bank had received the lawmakers’ request and would work to address their questions.
“Like every bank, we are required to operate within the law and legal frameworks of all countries and territories in which we operate,” the spokesman said.
In January 2021, Quinn had defended HSBC’s action to freeze Hui’s account in a meeting of the British parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, insisting the bank was legally obliged to take action after being notified by Hong Kong police. He said the decision was not based on political affiliation or activity.
