Hong Kong opposition party activists protest account closures at HSBC head office

Opposition party activists staged a protest outside the iconic headquarters of HSBC in Hong Kong this week after the bank shut down their party"s accounts.
Five League of Social Democrats members gathered by the lion statues outside the bank"s headquarters in Hong Kong"s Central business district on Tuesday, holding up a banner that read: "Dollar signs in their eyes – aiding and abetting tyranny."
"Cancellation of bank accounts is soft political persecution!" the protesters, who included party chairwoman Chan Po-ying, chanted. "Everyone is at risk in this international financial center!"
"Don"t trample on our rights of association!" they shouted, watched closely by around a dozen police officers.
The protest comes amid a citywide crackdown on public dissent and political opposition under the 2020 national security law, which has included the freezing of politicians’ assets by Hong Kong banks.
Party leader Chan Po-ying, who was arrested at the weekend on a downtown shopping street carrying an electric candle and a yellow paper mourning flower on the 34th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre, said the move had stopped the party"s operations in their tracks.
"The closure of the League of Social Democrats" bank accounts for no reason affects our day-to-day operations, but also our survival as a political organization," Chan told journalists at the scene. "We were dependent on digital transfers from people"s bank accounts, because we"re not allowed to raise money on the street."
"We may live in an international financial hub, but we lack access to even the most basic banking services," she said.
Vice chairman Dickson Chau said he had received an initial notification from HSBC in February that the bank would be closing down the party"s three bank accounts, which were held at different branches of the bank, but without explaining why.
At least four other members of the party have had their personal accounts shut down, too.
"Based on our political stance, but without explaining the reason, HSBC unilaterally and recklessly canceled our accounts, affecting the day-to-day running of our organization," Chau told journalists at the protest.
"We believe that this is part of the systematic suppression of Hong Kong people"s freedom of association and freedom of speech," he said.
He said the bank"s actions had affected the party"s ability to raise funds of its jailed former chairman Leung Kwok-hung, who is one of 47 political activists and former lawmakers currently standing trial for "subversion" after they organized a democratic primary in the summer of 2020.
Veteran activist Tsang Kin-Shing