Hong Kong Exile Questions Continued Freeze on Accounts

Exiled dissident and former Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung spoke again about his frozen accounts, claiming that there was no legal basis for continued suspension.

According to ex-Hong Kong lawmaker Ted Hui, legal advice he received suggests that police orders for banks to freeze accounts should be rendered invalid after six months, questioning whether or not the continued suspension was purely political persecution on a dissident by means of freezing assets.

Six months have passed since HSBC unreasonably froze my accounts and my family’s last year, Hui wrote in a social media post.

Since then, the Hong Kong Police never disclosed any information regarding my case: No evidence, no arrest, no prosecution, no wanted list, no further legal proceedings.

Relations between HSBC and China are expected to remain tense due to continued opposition from the U.K. against Beijing’s policy actions in Hong Kong and its effects on the British lender.

In January this year, British members of parliament grilled HSBC’s Noel Quinn in response to Hui’s criticism about the bank’s initial decision to freeze his accounts. In the same month, Quinn also apologized to Hui, adding that HSBC had «no choice» but to comply with police orders.

In addition to Hui’s frozen accounts, HSBC is also facing strains with China from an ongoing legal dispute involving Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou whose lawyer’s recently obtained internal documents from the bank which could potentially prevent her extradition from Canada to the U.S.