An unequivocal message of support for Beijing has let the world know where the bank’s priorities lie.
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HSBC’s most recent TV ad campaign is a montage of lush, slow-motion footage of stalwart everyday #heroes stacking shelves, shouldering bags of grain and politely asking people to queue for shops. “We are not an island”, intones Sandi Toksvig over footage of a softly gleaming Britscape, “we are part of something far, far bigger”.
The bank expressed a similar sentiment on WeChat, China’s ubiquitous social network, last night — except that this time, the place it considered to be “not an island” was Hong Kong, and the “something far, far bigger” was the criminal and security jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China.
The post announces the bank’s public support for the national security law that Beijing is seeking to impose upon the special administrative region, and reveals that Peter Wong, chief executive of the bank’s Hong Kong subsidiary, has signed a petition in support of the new law.
Critics say the law will subject Hong Kong’s 7.5m citizens to the same authoritarian regime as the rest of China, placing severe limits on freedom of speech and assembly, and allowing Chinese security agencies to operate in the city. On 28 May, the governments of Australia, Canada, the UK and the US jointly released a statement expressing their “deep concern” at the law, which they said “lies in direct conflict with [China’s] international obligations”.
Many brands now take a moral stance in their advertising. Nike, for example, has won applause — and commercial success — for using its marketing to promote a more open and frank discussion of systemic racism.
