HSBC and Standard Chartered have drawn the ire of politicians and investors in the UK for their public support of a controversial national security law China plans to impose on Hong Kong.
On Wednesday, the two banks released carefully-worded statements backing the legislation, which Beijing says intends to target “splittist, subversion of state power, terrorism or interference by foreign countries or outside influences” in Hong Kong.
“I wonder why HSBC and StanChart are choosing to back an authoritarian state’s repression of liberties and undermining of the rule of law?” tweeted British Conservative party politician Tom Tugendhat, who chairs parliament’s foreign affairs committee. “Where does this fit in their definition of corporate social responsibility?”