UK Edition
HSBC has been accused of “putting profits before human rights” after a senior executive at the UK-based lender suggested Britain was too tough on China.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, head of public affairs at HSBC, was forced to apologise after he said the Government was “weak” for complying with US demands to cut back dealings with the communist state.
Sir Sherard, a former senior British diplomat, said in June that the UK should not blindly follow the US.
He said that an example of the Government being “weak” was caving to US demands including banning Chinese telecoms giant Huawei from the country’s 5G network, Bloomberg reported.
The comments led to a backlash from peers and MPs on Monday, in a row that threatens to wipe out the credit HSBC built up with Rishi Sunak’s government after rescuing Silicon Valley Bank UK (SVB UK) earlier this year.
Lord David Alton, vice chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hong Kong, said: “HSBC continues to put profits before human rights and is determined to keep the Chinese regime on side, no matter the brutal disregard that the CCP has for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”
It comes as HSBC faces growing scrutiny of its activities in China and Hong Kong, where it has been accused by British MPs of complicity in human rights abuses.
HSBC has faced criticism for supporting a Beijing-backed law introduced in 2020 that banned anti-government activity in the former British colony. At the time, the bank said it “respects and supports all laws that stabilise Hong Kong’s social order”.
Since the law was introduced, HSBC has frozen the bank accounts of a raft of activists, including pro-democracy politician Ted Hui, on orders from Hong Kong police.
The bank, which counts Hong Kong as its biggest market, has said repeatedly that it has to comply with laws in every jurisdiction where it operates.
In June, the lender was also accused by UK and US politicians of persecuting dissident Hong Kongers who leave the country over pension rights.
A spokesman for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, a campaign group, said: “HSBC continues to bow to the Hong Kong authorities as it is one of several banks that prevents Hong Kongers from accessing more than £2.2bn worth of their hard-earned pensions.
“The comments from Sir Sherard speak volumes to the value HSBC places on the economy over national security and human rights.”
Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed that HSBC had admitted it risks endangering human rights amid its pivot to Asia.
Lord Alton said: “This incident raises further concerns about HSBC’s priorities and its cosy relationship with the brutal Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime.
“HSBC’s continued backing of the vicious National Security Law lends the CCP-backed Hong Kong government an undeserved veneer of respectability and this is the real scandal for which HSBC should be apologising.”
Sir Sherard’s comments were also criticised by Conservative backbenchers on Monday, including the party’s former leader Iain Duncan Smith, who branded the HSBC executive “the worst sort of apologist” following the remarks.
A HSBC spokesman said Sir Sherard, who is also chairman of the China-Britain Business Council lobby group and a former British ambassador who held posts in Saudi Arabia, Israel and Afghanistan, made the comments at a private roundtable discussion and shared his personal views.
The comments were made at an event in London under Chatham House rules, which means attendees can use the information gained from discussions but should not reveal the identity of who made the comments.
Sir Sherard said: “I was speaking at a private event under Chatham House rules and my personal comments do not reflect the views of HSBC or the China British Business Council. I apologise for any offence caused.”
Despite the lender’s pivot to China in recent years, HSBC bosses won plaudits with the Government in March after stepping in at short notice to rescue collapsed SVB UK.