City A.M.: 'Helena Morrissey criticises HSBC and City of London as she calls for dump of China stock'

City insider Baroness Helena Morrissey has called on investors to ditch their stakes in Chinese companies due to the accusations of human rights abuses in the country.

Morrissey, a chair for AJ Bell, also criticised HSBC and the City of London Corporation for their stance on China, as the bank alongside Standard Chartered, had last year given their backing to China’s new security laws for Hong Kong.

Speaking at a panel hosted by the charity Hong Kong Watch and the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission at the Conservative Party conference, the Baroness said: “I think with China we’ve got to recognise that we’re dealing with a bad actor who has very different world views, who wants to impose those views on the rest of us.

“We’d be very naive to think if we’ve got a seat at the table and we invest in some of their companies, they will indulge us and they’ll listen and they’ll change.”

The human rights abuses, from across Hong Kong to its Xinjiang region, should be taken seriously by investors, she said, likening the weight of the issue to climate change.

“How can one set of fundamental principles — our human rights — be cast aside simply because it might be inconvenient in the fight against climate change? Or because they might get in the way of a very short-term financial gain?”

Morrissey called out HSBC’s management for its role in freezing the accounts of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong, while also criticising policy chair of the City of London Corporation Catherine McGuinness for not publicly condemning the Chinese government for human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims.

“They say they are abiding by the rules, they are obeying orders, but surely if there’s one thing we have learnt over history, it is that is no defence,” she said.

Her comments follow the European Union halting the agreement of an investment treaty with China in May, amid an exchange of sanctions for politicians, officials and academics over the rights abuses.

Trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis eventually shut down the ratification process, saying: “We now, in a sense, have suspended political outreach activities from the European Commission side.

A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: “We strongly condemn human rights abuses around the world, wherever they are found.

“We are guided by the UK Government on how and when to engage with countries, and we will continue to seek guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on all of our international engagement, including that with China.”

HSBC declined to comment.

This article was published in City A.M. on 5 October 2021.