Hong Kongers March Against Communist Party’s Push for “Hong Kong version of national security law“
Some Hong Kong pro-democracy activists and a bank executive have confirmed that the Hong Kong government is also scrutinizing their financial records amid a crackdown on political opposition.
Reuters exclusively reported on Jan. 26 that six pro-democracy activists told Reuters that Hong Kong police were investigating their bank records without their consent and questioning some of their transactions. The six were arrested earlier this month for allegedly violating so-called “national security laws.
A major Hong Kong bank executive told Reuters that the number of requests for customer financial records from Hong Kong police has more than doubled in the past six months or so, and the total number of customers affected could remain in the double digits.
The bank executive told Reuters that Hong Kong banks have no choice but to comply with police requests and that “if the aggrieved parties believe their accounts have been frozen or disclosed to third parties out of mistake, they can go to court and there is nothing we can do.”
The six activists said police showed copies of their bank records during questioning. Two of them said police showed them copies of bank statements from Standard Chartered Bank, and two others declined to say which banks were involved.
So far, 94 people have been arrested in Hong Kong under the internationally censured “Hong Kong version of national security law,” which the Hong Kong government says is suspected of secession, subversion, terrorism or collusion with foreign countries and carries a maximum sentence of Life in prison.
The six pro-democracy activists contacted by Reuters were arrested on Jan. 6. Early that morning, at least 53 pro-democracy activists, including Legislative Council primary election promoter Tai Yiu-ting and a number of candidates, were arrested at the doorstep of the Hong Kong police on suspicion of violating the “subversion of state power” charge under the Hong Kong National Security Law.
The police said at a press conference on the same day that the pro-democracy activists’ intention to paralyze the SAR government through the primary election would put Hong Kong through “an abyss of doom”. The international community has called on the Chinese side to release them immediately.
Reuters reported last July that global wealth management firms were reviewing their Hong Kong clients’ ties to pro-democracy activities to avoid being targeted by the Chinese Communist Party‘s national security laws in Hong Kong.
This includes bankers such as Credit Suisse, HSBC, Julius Baer Group and UBS, who are vetting clients with political and government ties and imposing additional investigation requirements on such clients. This means that customers who are identified by their banks as politically exposed may have less or no access to banking services.
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