Statement from Lord Patten of Barnes on the withholding of Hong Kongers' MPF savings

Since the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs made a unilateral declaration in response to the opening of the British National (Overseas) visa scheme in January 2021 to no longer recognise the BNO identity, we have witnessed an estimated 126,505 Hong Kongers being denied £3 billion worth of their Mandatory Provident Fund retirement savings. 

This act of political retaliation is most concerning, as Hong Kong Watch of which I am a Patron has pointed out regularly. This is being conducted by fiat with no laws or regulations being changed in Hong Kong regarding the operation of the MPF.

Even more concerning is the withholding of MPF savings from those without BNO visas who have obtained permanent residency in Australia. According to the Mandatory Provident Fund Authority, permission to reside in a place outside of Hong Kong is satisfactory for early MPF withdrawal.

However, these cases involve Hong Kongers who have been issued arrest warrants with HK$1 million (£99,157) bounties for advocating for democracy. This demonstrates that the freezing of Hong Kongers’ savings is an act of transnational repression, to punish those who have fled from the Hong Kong regime.

This outrageous behaviour cannot be justified in the UK, given that the Hong Kong National Security Law and its extraterritorial reach violate Hong Kong’s international obligations under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

The new UK government should swiftly take action to address the withholding of Hong Kongers’ hard-earned savings. This includes issuing guidance to all UK-based financial institutions regarding the use of BNO passports as valid documents while continuing to press the Hong Kong authorities and UK-headquartered MPF trustees to allow Hong Kongers to access their MPF savings.

British-headquartered MPF trustees, HSBC and Standard Chartered, must not be complicit in political retaliation and transnational repression against Hong Kongers who have sought safe haven in the UK. There are no excuses that merit cooperation with a regime that increasingly suppresses the most basic civil and political liberties that are guaranteed under international law.

To this day, the Hong Kong government is legally obliged to uphold Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy and respect the rights enshrined in the Basic Law.

彭定康勳爵就港人被扣押強積金的聲明

中國外交部因應2021年1月英國國民（海外）簽證計劃開放，單方面宣布不再承認BNO身分，自那以後，我們目睹估計有126,505名香港人被拒絕提取強積金退休儲蓄，涉及金額達30億英鎊。

正如我擔任贊助人的香港監察經常所指，這種政治報復行為令人憂慮。肇事者聽命展開這種行動，有關強積金運作的香港法律或法規並沒有改變。

更為令人憂慮的是，沒持有BNO簽證但已獲得澳洲永久居留權的香港人被扣押強積金儲蓄。據強制性公積金計劃管理局所稱，已獲准在香港以外地方居住符合提早提取強積金的要求。

然而，相關個案涉及因倡議民主而被以100萬港元（99,157英鎊）懸紅通緝的香港人。事件顯示凍結港人儲蓄屬跨國鎮壓行為，旨在懲罰逃離香港政權的港人。

鑒於《香港國安法》及其域外效力有違香港在《中英聯合聲明》和《公民及政治權利國際公約》下的國際義務，這種可恥行為在英國並不正當。

英國新一屆政府應迅速採取行動，應對香港人被扣押血汗儲蓄的問題。措施包括向所有英國金融機構發出BNO護照可用作有效文件的指引，同時繼續向香港當局和總部設於英國的強積金受託人施壓，要求容許港人提取強積金儲蓄。

英國強積金受託人滙豐和渣打銀行不得助紂為虐，對赴英尋求避風港的香港人施展政治報復和跨國鎮壓。企業沒有任何藉口，與愈加大力打壓最基本公民及政治自由的政權合作，而這些自由受國際法保障。

時至今日，香港政府仍有法律義務維護香港的高度自治，尊重《基本法》所賦予的權利。