HSBCâs CEO âaiding and abettingâ Chinaâs crackdown in Hong Kong: British MPs
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London: The CEO of HSBC has been accused of âaiding and abettingâ one of Chinaâs biggest crackdowns on democracy by backing the security law imposed on Hong Kong.
Group chief executive Noel Quinn was also accused of turning a blind eye to allegations of hundreds of senior staff belonging to the Chinese Communist party.
Quinn was grilled by British MPs at a hearing of the Commons Foreign Affairs select committee on Wednesday morning (AEDT).
In the thick of it: A HSBC Holdings bank branch in Hong Kong, China,
Executive Summary
When Xi Jinping, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), dreams of global domination, he worries about one thing above all else: a hostile United States backed by its allies and on the Eurasian landmass, the US has no more important ally than Europe. As a result, Xi has worked to weaken the transatlantic alliance through a two-pronged economic stratagem. First, under the guise of globalization, China has insinuated itself into the European economy, creating dependencies. Second, Beijing is manipulating those dependencies to hollow out and supplant Europe’s advanced economies. To give this deception cover, China has built a vast political network across Europe, from basic sympathizers to outright spies.
MIL-OSI Europe: JOINT MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the crackdown on the democratic opposition in Hong Kong – RC-B9-0068/2021 foreignaffairs.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from foreignaffairs.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
31 December 2020
Author: Tim Summers, Chatham House
The past year and a half has transformed Hong Kong. Following prolonged, intense and often violent protest in 2019, COVID-19 drove activists off the streets in early 2020. This year’s passage of the National Security Law (NSL) by China’s National People’s Congress marked a new political phase. Opposition figures were put on the back foot and the central authorities in Beijing became more engaged in the city’s politics.
A year that began with a major protest march and the burning of HSBC Bank’s lion statues ended with opposition politicians fleeing into exile or facing prison sentences. What exactly has changed in Hong Kong and what are the implications? Two structural shifts stand out.
BBC News
image copyrightAi Weiwei Studio/BBC
23 years ago, Chris Patten, the outgoing Governor of Hong Kong, made an emotional farewell speech as Britain handed over its prized colony to China. With the Royal Yacht Britannia purring away in the harbour as the ultimate imperial getaway vehicle, he said, Now Hong Kong people are going to run Hong Kong. That is the promise and that is the unshakable destiny. The promise he was referring to was the one made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, in which China agreed that it would run, in effect, a one country, two systems policy when it regained sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997. It would allow the region to enjoy a high degree of autonomy for the next 50 years with its current social and economic systems, free press and lifestyle.