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WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo on Tuesday chided British bank HSBC for backing
moves by China to end Hong Kong's autonomy, saying such
"corporate kowtows" got little in return from Beijing.
Pompeo said the United States stood ready to help Britain
with alternatives after Beijing reportedly threatened to punish
HSBC and break commitments to build nuclear power plants in the
country unless it allowed China's Huawei Technologies
to build its 5G network.
"The United States stands with our allies and partners
against the Chinese Communist Party’s coercive bullying
tactics," Pompeo said in a statement, his latest swipe at
China's ruling party.
Pompeo said the CCP’s "browbeating" of HSBC "should serve as
a cautionary tale" and referred to the bank’s Asia-Pacific CEO,
Peter Wong, signing a petition supporting Beijing’s plans to
impose new security legislation on Hong Kong
"That show of fealty seems to have earned HSBC little
respect in Beijing, which continues to use the bank’s business
in China as political leverage against London," he said.
U.S.-China ties have deteriorated rapidly since the start of
the year over the coronavirus pandemic and Hong Kong. Washington
sees Huawei as an extension of the Chinese government and urges
European allies to exclude it from mobile networks.
Pompeo said Australia, Denmark, "and other free nations" had
faced pressure from Beijing and it showed why countries needed
to avoid economic overreliance on China and to guard their
critical infrastructure from CCP influence.
"Free nations deal in true friendship and desire mutual
prosperity, not political and corporate kowtows," he said.
Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Saturday
that HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker had warned Britain against a ban
on networking equipment made by Huawei, claiming the bank could
face reprisals in China.
Senior British and U.S. politicians criticized HSBC and
Standard Chartered last week after they both backed the national
security law for Hong Kong.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by
Tom Brown)
