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By Anne Marie Roantree and Lisa Jucca
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, wasquoted as making 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 said democracy could not be reached in just one step andwarned that investors' confidence in Hong Kong was at a criticalpoint, the newspaper added.
Cha, who is also a member of HSBC's Conduct and ValuesCommittee, said in a statement that she meant every country'spath to democracy was evolved in its own historical context. Sheadded she did not mean any disrespect and was sorry her commentshad caused concern.
HSBC's Asia-Pacific chief Peter Wong said he hadnoticed the speech from Cha but that he would stick to thebank's principle and "refrain from commenting on political itemsand issues".
The Financial Services Development Council did notimmediately respond to a request for comment.
The comments triggered outrage on social media and nearly6,000 people had signed the petition by Friday evening. The website of the petition said it had been launched by Jeffrey Chanfrom Hong Kong. It only appeared to be in English.
"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". http://chn.ge/1zMPxw4
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.
The protests drew well over 100,000 at their peak. Hundredsof demonstrators remained at the main protest site in Admiraltydistrict close to government buildings on Friday night, somedressed in Halloween costumes.
The highlight was an impersonator of North Korean leader KimJong Un, who showed up to support the protesters.
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, which wasestablished in 1865 to finance growing trade between Europe,India and China, has for decades been the most prominent retailand commercial bank in Hong Kong, using the city as a bedrockfor its global expansion. HSBC has the largest branch network inmainland China of a foreign bank.
The controversy is the latest to drag HSBC into Hong Kongpolitics.
Earlier this year, Next Media said HSBC and StandardChartered PLC had pulled millions of dollars worth ofadvertisements from Apple Daily after they were pressured byBeijing.
Apple Daily is owned by media magnate Jimmy Lai, anoutspoken critic of Beijing who has supported pro-democracyactivists through his publications and with donations.
HSBC and Standard Chartered have said the decision to pullthe advertising was for commercial reasons.
Cha's 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.
Financial Secretary John Tsang is due to visit Beijing onMonday to discuss issues of mutual concern, the Hong Konggovernment said late on Friday.
Slaves in the United States were freed under the 13thAmendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1865. The 15th Amendmentin 1870 granted African-American men the right to vote, buthistorians say the promise of the law would not be realized fornearly a century with the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Actremoving obstacles, especially in the American South, whichincluded poll taxes and literacy tests. (Additional reporting by Venus Wu, Clare Jim and Clare Baldwin;Editing by Nick Macfie)
