HSBC CEO Defends Stance on Hong Kong
26 Enero 2021 - 10:53PM
Noticias Dow Jones
By Simon Clark
U.K. lawmakers accused HSBC Holdings PLC Chief Executive Noel
Quinn of appeasing China and ignoring the erosion of democracy and
rule of law in Hong Kong, where the bank was founded nearly 156
years ago.
A parliamentary committee questioned Mr. Quinn on Tuesday after
the London-based bank supported China's imposition of a new
security law on Hong Kong last year. China has said the law was
necessary to restore order after a year of protests in the city.
The U.K. and U.S. governments opposed it, saying it undermined an
agreement to give Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy after the
British handed the city back to China in 1997.
Labour Party lawmaker Chris Bryant said some might see HSBC as
"aiding and abetting one of the biggest crackdowns on democracy in
the world." Mr. Quinn said he was "not going to comment on
democracy" because he's a banker, not a politician.
"I also care deeply about Hong Kong," Mr. Quinn told the
lawmakers. "I can only do what I do as a bank, and as a CEO of a
bank, to continue to support our customers. We have done that
through Covid. We have done that through this unrest and I am
committed to continuing to help the people of Hong Kong. So I have
that same passion and concern for Hong Kong as you do."
Mr. Quinn said the security situation in Hong Kong was out of
control before the security law was introduced.
"I, with my colleagues, personally witnessed the destruction
that was taking place," he said.
Earlier this month, Hong Kong police arrested more than 50
pro-democracy figures they accused of plotting to paralyze the Hong
Kong government through the city's legislature. The move targeted
much of the opposition camp's leadership and was the biggest sweep
using the national security law since its introduction.
Tom Tugendhat, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, asked
Mr. Quinn why HSBC had frozen accounts of Hong Kong democracy
activists.
Mr. Quinn said HSBC hadn't decided as a policy to freeze bank
accounts of Hong Kong activists and didn't drop customers or freeze
accounts for political reasons.
"To the extent that we have frozen accounts it's because we're
obliged to under request from the police authorities as they
undertake their investigations," he said.
HSBC froze the bank accounts of Ted Hui, a democracy campaigner
and former Hong Kong lawmaker who has sought exile in the U.K., the
day after he fled the city in December.
"I do not accept his explanation about freezing my accounts and
my family's accounts," Mr. Hui said in an interview. "I am not
convinced that HSBC was left with no choice."
Earlier this month Mr. Quinn took the unusual step of writing
directly to Mr. Hui to explain the bank's actions, according to a
Facebook post the campaigner made that included a screenshot of the
email.
HSBC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment
Wednesday.
Bob Seely, a Conservative U.K. lawmaker, said HSBC talked about
helping the environment and improving workplace diversity but
didn't want to discuss democracy in Hong Kong.
Mr. Quinn said climate-change mitigation and promoting diversity
were both the right thing for the bank to do for commercial
reasons. "What I am reluctant to do is to talk about the politics
or the political-architectural regimes of one country versus
another because I operate in 60 countries," he said.
He said the bank's Chinese operations wouldn't be separated from
its business covering the rest of the world, adding that such a
move wouldn't benefit Hong Kong or the U.K.
"I believe that we do good as an international bank," Mr. Quinn
said.
Write to Simon Clark at simon.clark@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 26, 2021 23:38 ET (04:38 GMT)
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