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Letters

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words.
In June, British media outlet This is Money reported that the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) has raised the alarm about the risk that mainland China’s rising influence in Hong Kong poses to foreign companies. The think tank says HSBC and Standard Chartered should be encouraged to move out of Hong Kong and away from Beijing’s tightened control over the city.
This view merits attention against the backdrop of growing concern about Chinese influence in the United Kingdom. This month, the UK government nationalised British Steel, taking it back from its Chinese owner, Jingye Group.
This growing unfriendliness towards China in the UK and across the West could be exploited by populist politicians seeking to boost their popularity. Such pressure may extend to urging the two banks to leave Hong Kong or tightening restrictions on Chinese investment in the UK.
The two banks are products of Britain’s colonial era. They still enjoy a highly lucrative colonial premium that anchors their dominant market share and low-cost funding base nearly three decades after Hong Kong’s reunification with China. They remain Hong Kong’s primary note-issuing banks and settlement banks. Hong Kong has long been their crown jewel. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the two banks have reaped enormous profits from China’s economic miracle.
In 2025, Hong Kong contributed 32 per cent to HSBC’s pre-tax profit. The city shored up around one-third of Standard Chartered’s pre-tax profit. HSBC’s recent decision to privatise Hang Seng Bank was not only a strategic move to unlock cost and revenue synergies but also a clear vote of confidence in the Hong Kong financial market outlook.
Any proposal to encourage HSBC and Standard Chartered to leave Hong Kong or China is patently absurd. Such a move would create a substantial profit shortfall and undermine the unique position they are in to link East and West. Moreover, scaling back operations would indirectly weaken the UK’s soft power.
Ironically, it was also the view of Ping An, a major HSBC shareholder, back in 2022 that spinning off the bank’s Hong Kong-centred operations could unlock more value.
The widening decoupling between East and West leaves less room for companies that seek to benefit from both sides.
Given that the new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is busy dealing with multiple challenges, China is unlikely to be a top priority.
However, we cannot rule out the possibility of the banks leaving amid growing populism driven by economic anxiety. It would be a tragedy if this ill-conceived proposal ever became reality.
Joseph Chan, chairman, Silk Road Economic Development Research Centre
Gig workers, teleworkers and slashers should enjoy employment protections
In the digital age, some people neither work regular hours nor have steady jobs in the same workplace. They might be eking out livings by doing odd jobs, as food couriers, ride-hailing drivers, freelancers in professional services and live-streaming influencers.
While the government is moving to protect vulnerable workers, one major problem for gig workers is misclassification because they are always treated as self-employed even though digital platforms have control over their pay, assignments and the disciplinary rules.
To redress the balance, gig workers could be considered regular employees, and the onus would be on platforms to prove otherwise. Gig workers should be entitled to employee welfare as stipulated in the Employment Ordinance and other laws, including minimum pay, Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) contributions, statutory holidays, injury compensation and sick leave.
Benefits should be portable across different platforms, which have to share liabilities in case of accidents and compensation.
Teleworkers are at a disadvantage because they work remotely and their working hours may not be reckoned accurately. The overtime they work or any injury they suffer while on duty might go unacknowledged.
They should not attend to any calls and messages after agreed hours so that their privacy is protected while overtime and burnout are minimised. There must be safeguards against unfairness and a mechanism for verifying their performance.
The authorities should consider what kind of evidence is admissible in judicial proceedings over work-related disputes.
Slashers are workers with many job titles, who could be freelancers, gig workers and part-time employees at the same time. The government could help slashers by defining their job specifications, taxation rules and portable benefits and providing their employers with pragmatic guidelines.
The government must respond to this ever-changing digital age of ours in a timely manner.
Albert Lau, Kwun Tong


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China-UK relations

Moving out of Hong Kong would be a bad idea for HSBC and StanChart

A view of financial buildings, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority headquarters. A think tank has proposed encouraging the two banks to relocate from Hong Kong amid concern about Beijng's tightened control over the city. Photo: May Tse

As the UK discusses an EU return, Hong Kong offers lessons

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Standard Chartered posts 10% rise in first-half profit, launches US$1b buy-back

Net profit climbed to a record US$3.37 billion, according to Standard Chartered. Photo: Reuters

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Opinion

Readers discuss a proposal that two of Hong Kong’s note-issuing banks should relocate, and employment protections in the digital age


Readers discuss a proposal that two of Hong Kong’s note-issuing banks should relocate, and employment protections in the digital age.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss a proposal that two of Hong Kong’s note-issuing banks should relocate, and employment protections in the digital age

Readers discuss a proposal that two of Hong Kong’s note-issuing banks should relocate, and employment protections in the digital age