135 Parliamentarians call for the parliamentary pension fund to divest from Chinese companies linked to Xinjiang
Today, a cross-party group of over 135 UK Parliamentarians, including 118 Members of Parliament and 17 Members of the House of Lords have written a letter to the chairman and trustees of the Parliamentary Contributory Fund to call on them to review its pension investments in China and divest from Chinese companies accused of complicity in gross human rights violations or institutions linked to the Chinese state.
Notable signatories include: Lisa Nandy, Labour’s Shadow Foreign Secretary, the former Cabinet Ministers Liam Fox, Iain Duncan Smith, and Lord Tebbit, Layla Moran, Alyn Smith, and Stephen Kinnock. The late David Amess MP was also a signatory to this letter.
These letters follow the publishing of research by Hong Kong Watch which found the Parliamentary Contributory Fund in 2020 was managed in part by Blackrock and had £2.9 million invested in Alibaba and £900,000 in Tencent, as well as investments in China Construction Bank and Sinopec. The report also found that Legal and General had investments in Chinese companies sanctioned by the US Government.
The letter stated that: "Aside from being two of the largest technology companies in China, Alibaba and Tencent regularly collaborate with the Chinese state in maintaining internet censorship through the ‘Great Firewall” and have provided the Government with surveillance patents for software which has been put to use against the Uyghurs."
It underlined that as the "the largest bankroller of Chinese state-owned enterprises", Chinese state-owned banks "have spent the last decade buying up a substantial amount of strategic infrastructure in the UK."
The letter stated that the exposure to Chinese equities was problematic "given the sanctions China has placed on UK parliamentarians, the Speakers of both the Lords and Commons recently banned the Chinese Ambassador from entering Parliament. Furthermore, Parliament has also labelled the treatment of the Uyghurs as “genocide.” It also said that Blackrock's exposure to these stocks "undermine" their commitment to ethical investing.
Commenting on the letter, Siobhain McDonagh MP a leading signatory and member of the Treasury Select Committee said:
“When the world is presented with such overwhelming evidence of gross human rights abuses, nobody can turn a blind eye. But we must also ask ourselves what it means to be complicit and that’s why I’m horrified to learn that our own pension fund is invested in Chinese institutions with close ties to the state. If we look on, history will condemn our unforgivable cowardice and ask why those in power did not act. Warm words are simply not enough because this time no one can say that they did not know.”
Stephen Kinnock MP, Shadow Minister for Asia & Pacific, said:
“It is completely unacceptable that parliamentary pension funds are investing in companies that have been complicit in human rights abuses perpetrated by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang. The Labour Party strongly supports the two letters from parliamentarians and staff which call for the leadership at the Parliamentary Contribution Pension Fund and Legal & General respectively to urgently investigate the findings of the recent Hong Kong Watch report.”
In a separate letter, over 135 staff of Members of Parliament have written to Legal and General to call for them to review pension fund investments in China, including possible investments in Chinese companies currently on the US sanctions list for their complicity in the oppression of the Uyghurs.
In the letter, the parliamentary staff members urged Legal and General to “to review our pension investments in China and ensure that as staff of Members of Parliament we are not invested in companies or institutions complicit in gross human rights violations or institutions linked to the Chinese-state.”
Sam Goodman, Hong Kong Watch’s Senior Policy Advisor and the co-author of the report, said:
“It is a sorry state of affairs when even MPs' pensions are being invested in Chinese companies closely affiliated with egregious rights abuses in Xinjiang and in Chinese state-run banks with little to no regard about the national security and human rights implications.
If the drive toward ethical investment and making the UK a world-leader in ESG is to mean anything, then MPs must ensure that their own pensions are not being invested in companies undermining human rights and look again at bringing forward legislation to regulate this sector.
The current knowledge gap has offered cover to financial institutions to pursue profit by pumping UK pensioners money into Chinese companies with little regard to human rights, national security, or the exposure to risk.”
135名英國國會議員呼籲國會退休基金從與新疆有連繫的中國公司撤資
今天，一個由超過 135 名英國議員、包括 118 名下議員及 17 名上議院議員組成的跨黨派小組，聯署致函國會退休基金的主席和信託人，呼籲他們審查在中國的退休基金投資，以及從被指控參與嚴重侵犯人權的中國公司或與中國政府有關的機構撤資。
值得注意的聯署者包括：工黨影子外交部長Lisa Nandy，前內閣部長Liam Fox、 Iain Duncan Smith和Lord Tebbit，以及Layla Moran，Alyn Smith和Stephen Kinnock。早前不幸離世的國會議員 David Amess 亦是聯署人之一。
這些信件是在香港監察早前發表研究報告之後發出的，該研究報告指2020年的國會退休基金部份由貝萊德(Blackrock)管理，並在阿里巴巴投資了 290 萬英鎊和在騰訊投資了 90 萬英鎊，以及在中國建設銀行和中石化投資。報告亦發現法通保險(Legal and General)在被美國政府制裁的中國公司投資。
信件寫道︰「阿里巴巴和騰訊除了是中國最大的兩間科技公司之外，還定期與中國政府合作，通過『防火牆』維持互聯網審查，並為政府提供軟件監控專利，用以針對維吾爾族人。」
信件強調作為「中國國有企業最大的資金來源」，中國國有銀行「於過去十年在英國購買了大量戰略基礎設施」。
信件指接觸中國資產是有問題的。基於中國對英國國會議員實施制裁，上議院和下議院議長最近都禁止中國大使進入議會。此外，議會亦已將維吾爾人的待遇界定為「種族滅絕」。信件亦指出，貝萊德接觸這些股票會「破壞」他們對道德投資的承諾。
在評論此信件時，主要簽署人、財務專責委員會成員Siobhain McDonagh表示︰
「當世界面臨如此嚴重侵犯人權的重大證據時，沒有人可以視而不見。我們也必須問自己什麼是同謀，這正是為何我在得知我們的退休基金投資在與國家關係密切的中國機構時感到震驚。如果我們袖手旁觀，歷史會譴責我們不可原諒的懦弱，以及責問為何當權者沒有採取行動。激烈的說話語根本不足夠，因為這一次沒有人可以說他們不知道。”
影子亞太國務大臣Stephen Kinnock 表示︰「國會退休基金投資在被指與中國政府同謀侵犯新疆維吾爾人人權的公司，是完全不可接受的。工黨強烈支持議員和職員的兩封信件，信件分別呼籲議會供款養老基金和法通保險的領導層迅速調查香港監察最近發表的研究報告結果。」
在另一封信件，超過 135 名議員的職員致函法通保險，要求他們審查在中國的退休基金投資，包括在因為參與壓迫維吾爾人而被列入美國制裁名單的中國公司的潛在投資。
在信中，國會職員促請法通保險「審查我們在中國的退休基金投資，以及確保作為議員的職員，我們不會投資在嚴重侵犯人權的公司或機構，或與中國政府有關的機構。 」
香港監察的資深政策顧問以及報告的作者 Sam Goodman 說：「當國會議員的退休基金也被投資在與新疆嚴重侵犯人權行為有密切關係的中國公司、以及幾乎沒有考慮國家安全和人權的中國國有銀行，確實令人遺憾。
如果要為推動道德投資以及令英國成為環境、社會及管治範疇的世界領導者賦予任何意義，國會議員必須確保他們的退休金不會投資在侵害人權的公司，並再次考慮提出透過立法來規範這範疇。
目前的知識差距為金融機構提供掩護，讓他們通過將英國退休金領取者的資金注入忽視人權、國家安全或風險敞口的中國公司來謀取利潤。」