{"id":29662,"date":"2021-05-25T19:03:01","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T11:03:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/?p=29662"},"modified":"2021-05-25T21:25:34","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T13:25:34","slug":"hsbc-the-bank-that-supports-the-chinese-dictatorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinaworker.info\/en\/2021\/05\/25\/29662\/","title":{"rendered":"HSBC: The bank that supports the Chinese dictatorship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Solidarity protests\u00a0in support of\u00a0democracy struggle in China and Hong Kong<\/strong><\/p>\n

Solidarity Against Repression in China and Hong Kong<\/i><\/p>\n

HSBC is the focus of protests internationally because it cooperates with the Chinese dictatorship\u2019s crackdown against democratic rights in Hong Kong. On May 31, forty seven Hong Kong democracy activists, opposition politicians and trade unionists will stand trial for subversion under the national security law. Among them is veteran democracy campaigner and left activist \u2018Long Hair\u2019 Leung Kwok-hung.<\/p>\n

This is the biggest trial so far under this viciously anti-democratic legislation. Protests will take place in dozens of cities worldwide to show opposition to the law and demand the release of the 47. Some of these protests will take place at HSBC offices due to the banking giant\u2019s close political ties with the Chinese regime, as this leaflet from\u00a0Solidarity Against Repression in China and Hong Kong<\/i>\u00a0outlines.<\/p>\n

With HSBC\u2019s high profile support, China is imposing undemocratic laws and political repression in Hong Kong. HSBC has frozen bank accounts belonging to groups and individuals campaigning for democracy. During the 2019 mass democracy protests in Hong Kong, HSBC and other big companies spied upon the political views of their staff and dismissed trade unionists.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong\u2019s national security law<\/strong><\/p>\n

HSBC (Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation)\u00a0is Europe\u2019s biggest bank, headquartered in London, which makes big profits through its close relationship with China’s dictatorial regime. The biggest shareholder in HSBC is China\u2019s Ping An Insurance, a partly state-owned company, which boosted its stake in HSBC to 8 percent last year. HSBC has repaid this increased financial backing with political support for the repressive national security law, which is being used to destroy press freedom and free speech in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Solidarity Against Repression in China and Hong Kong\u00a0<\/i>(SARCHK) is an international campaign of labour activists and socialists. SARCHK organises to call out the anti-democratic and anti-worker dealings of multinationals and governments, some of which claim to promote \u201cdemocracy\u201d, but in reality are sabotaging every real struggle against authoritarian laws and regimes. Big business and its political representatives always put profits and their own power interests first \u2013 any talk about \u201cdemocracy\u201d and \u201chuman rights\u201d cannot be trusted.<\/p>\n

Under the national security law in Hong Kong any criticism of China\u2019s CCP regime is effectively banned as an act of subversion. This \u201ccrime\u201d can be punished by life imprisonment. The law was enacted by China\u2019s unelected \u2018parliament\u2019 the NPC to attack media, opposition politicians and election candidates, protest groups and peaceful marches.<\/p>\n

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HSBC\u2019s record<\/strong><\/p>\n

HSBC \u201crespects and supports all laws that stabilise Hong Kong\u2019s social order,\u201d the bank stated when the national security law was announced in 2020. Top HSBC bosses didn\u2019t just support but actively campaigned for the new law to be introduced. HSBC\u2019s Deputy Chairman Peter Wong is a member of the Chinese People\u2019s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which is China\u2019s unelected parliamentary consultative body \u2013 full of billionaires and company bosses that support the dictatorship. Wong is therefore a prominent supporter of the Chinese dictatorship and its national security law. In June 2020, he took a photo as he signed a petition supporting the imposition of the national security law and posted this on the company\u2019s social media account.<\/p>\n

HSBC bosses say they had \u201cno choice\u201d but to declare support for the law and that Deputy Chairman Wong was \u201cpressured\u201d by the dictatorship into taking a public stand. If this is true it only tells us that even the super-rich HSBC board have no free speech under China\u2019s dictatorship. While protesters risk prison and persecution to resist the onslaught against democratic rights, HSBC bosses and other capitalists cooperate with the regime to safeguard their billions of dollars in profits. China\u2019s lack of trade unions and basic democratic rights has been a major reason for so many foreign companies to invest and move sizeable parts of their production there \u2013 it is a hell for workers but a paradise for big business!<\/p>\n

Support trade union rights<\/strong><\/p>\n

SARCHK campaigns in support of democratic rights in China and Hong Kong. We support the right of all workers to join a union to fight against workplace abuses and exploitation. Trade unions are completely banned in China and are under serious attack in Hong Kong. Several Hong Kong union leaders have been jailed under the national security law. We are calling out HSBC for its collusion with the viciously repressive Chinese regime. We urge trade unions and ordinary working people everywhere to show your solidarity with the struggle for democratic rights in China and Hong Kong.<\/p>\n