Two exiled pro-democracy Hong Kong activists have been blocked from accessing their pensions, depriving them of tens of thousands of US dollars of their savings and raising questions about the complicity of western financial institutions in the persecution of Chinese government critics.
Assets, including pension savings, belonging to Ted Hui, a former pro-democracy legislator who is now based in Australia, were frozen shortly after he fled from Hong Kong in December 2020. The assets are held by HSBC, a British bank.
HSBC briefly unfroze Hui’s accounts in December 2020, during which time he was able to transfer “the majority of funds” out of Hong Kong, Hui said. But he recently said that his pension, worth several hundred thousand Hong Kong dollars, remains locked in his HSBC-administered pension scheme.
The Guardian has learned that another high-profile pro-democracy figure, who has Australian permanent residence, has also been blocked from withdrawing his pension savings, worth more than HK$600,000 ($76,900/£59,000). The savings are managed by Manulife, a Canadian financial services firm.
Hui and the other activist, who does not wish to be named, have been issued with arrest warrants by the Hong Kong police for allegedly violating the city’s national security law while in exile. HK$1m has been offered for information leading to their arrest.
In 2022, Hui was convicted in absentia for his role in the 2019 protests and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail.
In November, the second activist attempted to withdraw his pension from the fund administered by Manulife, one of the financial institutions approved to manage Hong Kong’s compulsory pensions scheme. He was notified in March that the claim could not be processed because his account was under investigation.
The exiled activist said Manulife’s decision was “hypocritical”.
“These companies like Manulife sign up to human rights pledges, but they don’t honour those pledges,” he said.
Manulife’s anti-slavery statement states that it is committed to “the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights”.
“The only reason to deny me is because of the national security law,” said the activist, who has no other legal charges against him.
A Manulife spokesperson said: “We do not comment on individual cases. Manulife complies with all laws and regulations in the jurisdictions we operate in.”
Hong Kong’s national security law, imposed in 2020 after months of pro-democracy protests, has been widely condemned by international governments and human rights organisations for suppressing free expression in Hong Kong. Tens of thousands of Hongkongers have left the city since it was imposed amid a wider crackdown on civil society. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments said the law was necessary to restore stability.
Hongkongers are entitled to withdraw their pensions early if they have permanently resettled outside Hong Kong. They must provide proof that they are permitted to reside overseas, such as permanent residence documents or a foreign passport.
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