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HONG KONG, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Thousands have signed anonline petition denouncing reported comments by an HSBC Holdings board member in which she likened Hong Kong protesters'demands for democracy to the emancipation of slaves.
Laura Cha, who is also a member of Hong Kong's policy-makingExecutive Council, chairwoman of the city's Financial ServicesDevelopment Council and a member of China's parliament,reportedly made the comments at an event in Paris.
"American slaves were liberated in 1861 but did not getvoting rights until 107 years later, so why can't Hong Kong waitfor a while?" the Standard newspaper on Thursday quoted Cha assaying, referring to demands for free elections in the formerBritish colony.
Cha could not immediately be reached for comment.
HSBC's Asia-Pacific chief Peter Wong declined tocomment on her remarks, while the Financial Services DevelopmentCouncil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The comments triggered outrage on social media and nearly5,000 people had signed the petition by Friday afternoon.
"We, the Hong Kong public, will not stand these remarkslikening our rights to slavery, nor will we stand the kind ofvoter disenfranchisement her and her associates attempt toperpetrate on the Hong Kong public," said the petition to HSBC,that sought an apology from Cha.
The petition is addressed to the HSBC board of directors andis signed "The People of Hong Kong".
Her comments came just days after Hong Kong leader LeungChun-ying triggered a wave of criticism when he said that freeelections were unacceptable partly because they risked givingHong Kong's poor and working class a dominant voice.
China has ruled Hong Kong since 1997 through a "one country,two systems" formula which allows wide-ranging autonomy andfreedoms not enjoyed on the mainland and specifies universalsuffrage as an eventual goal.
But Beijing said in August it would screen candidates whowant to run for the city's election for a chief executive in2017, which democracy activists said rendered the notion ofuniversal suffrage meaningless.
For more than a month, key roads leading into three of HongKong's most economically and politically important districtshave been barricaded with wood and steel by thousands ofprotesters demanding greater democracy.
The protests drew well over 100,000 at their peak. (Reporting By Anne Marie Roantree, Lisa Jucca, Clare Jim;Editing by Nick Macfie)
