British banks, in particular HSBC, are “complicit in the repression of the human rights of Hong Kongers” refugees in the United Kingdom by denying them access to their pensions, denounces Wednesday a parliamentary report.
“Hong Kongers who have fled to the UK (…) are being denied what should be their legitimate access to their pension funds by British banks, including HSBC”, according to a press release released with the report, which also denounces the freezing of the assets of political dissidents.
“In addition to brutalizing protesters and political dissidents in Hong Kong, the Chinese Communist Party also seeks to financially isolate those who have turned to the UK government for safety and support,” the statement continued.
London condemned China’s crackdown on Hong Kong
In addition to HSBC, for which the United Kingdom and Hong Kong are the main markets, the authors of the report cite Standard Chartered Bank, which makes most of its profit in Asia. “These banks cannot continue to act with impunity and the UK government must act to help” the Hong Kongers concerned, called Alistair Carmichaelco-chair of the parliamentary group on Hong Kong.
London had condemned China’s crackdown on dissent in the former British colony, especially during the huge pro-democracy protests of 2019. According to official figures, arrested at the end of last May, more than 113,000 Hong Kongers have been granted new visas to settle in the UK, opening the way to citizenship, introduced in early 2021 in response to the national security law imposed by Beijing in June 2020.