Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, head of communications at HSBC, has previously criticized Britain's more aggressive stance towards China
Senior executive HSBC is resigning after causing outrage by saying Britain was too tough on China.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, HSBC's head of public relations, will leave the lender next month. Bloomberg reports.
Sir Sherard, Britain's former top diplomat, was forced to apologize last month after saying the government was «weak» in meeting US demands to distance itself from China.
He said that Britain should not blindly follow her. USA, citing examples such as the decision to ban Huawei from 5G networks.
The comments sparked a backlash from peers and MPs and marked a further setback in the already rocky relationship between HSBC and the government.
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Lord Alton, deputy chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Hong Kong, accused the bank is that it “puts profit before human rights.”
At the time, Sir Sherard, who is also chairman of the Sino-British Business Council lobby group and a former British ambassador with posts in Saudi Arabia, Israel and Afghanistan, apologized for the comments and said he was speaking at a private event.
HSBC declined to comment.
The bank has previously come under scrutiny for its ties to China and Hong Kong.
HSBC, whose headquarters is in London but makes most of its income in Asia, has publicly supported sweeping national security laws imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020.
Laws prohibiting anti-government activities in Hong Kong. The British colony is widely seen as eroding freedoms and the bank has frozen the accounts of a number of activists.
HSBC also came under fire in June from British and US politicians who accused it of withholding pensions. funds from Hong Kong dissidents who fled the country.
In a damning report earlier this year, MPs said HSBC was involved in human rights abuses. The bank later admitted it risked jeopardizing human rights amid a strategic shift to Asia.
Hong Kong has fallen in its human rights rankings as China tightens its grip on the financial hub. However, the special administration region remains HSBC's biggest market.
Despite widespread criticism, HSBC won government approval earlier this year after clinching a last-minute deal to rescue Silicon Valley Bank's UK unit. .
Sir Sherard has been approached for comment.
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