The U.K.'s foreign secretary recently condemned lenders supporting the recently passed national security law, adding that Hong Kongers’ freedoms should not be sacrificed for banker bonuses.
Dominic Raab recently reprimanded bank supporters of the law which targets acts of secession, subversion, terrorism and foreign collusion with foreign forces. HSBC and Standard Chartered were amongst the companies that publicly declared support for the law before it was made public on the same day it came into effect.
«On HSBC and banks, I’ve been very clear in relation with HSBC and […] all of the banks: the rights and the freedoms and our responsibilities in this country to the people of Hong Kong should not be sacrificed on the altar of bankers’ bonuses,» Raab told parliament, according to a «Reuters» report.
U.K.-China Relations
Politicians in the U.K. have been ramping up rhetoric against banks, particularly HSBC and Standard Chartered, that have supported the national security law. Last month, members of the British parliament also lashed out at the two banks with one suggesting HSBC's customers to reconsider another lender.
«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,» said Neil O’Brien, conservative MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston. «Other banks are available.»
