HSBC and Standard Chartered have broken their silence on the anti-government protests that have rocked Hong Kong in recent months, calling for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in full-page advertisements in local newspapers on Thursday.
HSBC — which takes its name from Hong Kong and Shanghai, where it was founded 154 years ago — has sought to appear neutral as the protests have intensified. But it has been put in a challenging position because of its reliance on Hong Kong, which accounts for about half of its profits, and its aggressive strategy for expansion in China.
Beijing has ratcheted up the pressure on international businesses that operate in Hong Kong and mainland China to take a pro-government stance and fire employees that have shown support for the protests.
Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship airline whose second-biggest shareholder is Air China, replaced its chief executive last week under pressure from Beijing.
The HSBC advertisements, published in five local-language newspapers on Thursday, said the bank was deeply concerned about the recent events and “condemned violence of any kind”, adding that the rule of law is vital to maintaining Hong Kong’s status as a financial centre. “That is why we fully support the ambition to resolve the present situation peacefully.”
An internal memo sent to HSBC staff on Thursday morning and seen by the Financial Times said the bank would not issue an advertisement in English. However, it did not directly answer the question of whether the advertisements were published under pressure from the Chinese government. “We are not changing our apolitical stance,” it said.
China has been at the centre of HSBC’S plan for global growth since 2015, particularly in the country’s southern province of Guangdong that borders Hong Kong. The bank is one of the largest in mainland China in terms of branch numbers and its corporate clients include many of the country’s largest state-owned enterprises.
