Hong Kong’s police chief – one of the 11 individuals sanctioned by the U.S. – shifted his mortgage away from HSBC to avoid Washington’s net, according to public records.
A mortgage linked to 439-square foot flat was transferred from HSBC to Bank of China (Hong Kong) on August 4, just several days before the sanctions were issued against Hong Kong police chief Chris Tang Ping-keung and his colleagues, according to the Land Registry’s records, first reported by local media.
The flat was bought in 2017 for around $800,000.
«Meaningless»
In a statement reported by «SCMP», the Hong Kong police force spoke on behalf of Tang, shrugging the sanctions as «meaningless» and declaring continued commitment to the national security law.
«The commissioner reiterated that it is his responsibility and honor to maintain national security and the security of Hong Kong, and that foreign sanctions are meaningless to him,» the statement said. «He will continue to concentrate on the work of safeguarding national and Hong Kong's security.»
Honor
The statement echoes recent comments made by Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam who, in similar fashion, spoke of the honor of implementing the national security law which led her and others to be sanctioned by Washington.
«The most important thing is that we feel honored to be trusted by the central government at such a historical moment to enforce this law to safeguard national security,» she said in an interview with state-backed media, admitting to post-sanction credit card troubles.
«We have to use some financial services and we don’t know whether that will relate back to an agency that has some American business, and the use of credit cards will be sort of hampered and so on.»
