British members of parliament lashed out HSBC and Standard Chartered for publicly supporting the controversial national security law, just days dismay was also expressed by opposition politicians.
Neil O’Brien, conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, said that HSBC had stabbed protestors in the back and called on customers to reconsider their banking options.
«If you bank with HSBC you are with a bank that is backing Beijing’s repressive new security laws, designed to snuff out freedom in Hong Kong,» O’Brien said on his social media account. «Other banks are available.»
«Not an Island»
O’Brien also mocked HSBC’s previous anti-Brexit campaign which had leveraged on the idea that the U.K. was «not an island» and the benefits of internationalism enjoyed by both the bank and British life.
«We are a Colombia coffee-drinking, American movie-watching, Swedish flat-pack-assembling, Korean tablet-swiping, Belgian striker-supporting, Dutch beer cheers-ing, Tikka Masala-eating wonderful little lump of land in the middle of the sea,» HSBC's ad previously read. «We are part of something better».
«We aren’t an island, nor are the people fighting for freedom in Hong Kong who they [HSBC] stabbed in the back,» O’Brien said.
U.K.-China Relations
The comments came following HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank's publicly expressed support for the national security law in Hong Kong after pressure from pro-Beijing officials. Former Hong Kong chief executive Leung Chun-Ying called on Hong Kong and mainland businesspeople to reconsider their ties with the bank to protect themselves and to «let the U.K. government, politicians and British firms such as HSBC know which side of the bread is buttered».
«I wonder why HSBC and [Standard Chartered] are choosing to back an authoritarian state’s repression of liberties and undermining of the rule of law?» added Tom Tugendhat, conservative member for Tonbridge and Malling.
«Where does this fit in their definition of corporate social responsibility?»
