MPs urge Wimbledon to cut ties with HSBC for failing to condemn China’s crackdown in Hong Kong

Wimbledon must cut ties with HSBC as the tournament’s banking partner is ‘complicit in oppression and human rights abuses’, MPs urged today.

Members of the Commons All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Hong Kong cited HSBC’s support for the draconian security law imposed on the region by China.

The London Stock Exchange-listed bank, which has £2.5trillion in assets across 64 countries, makes most of its money in Hong Kong.

Wimbledon (a full-house Centre Court pictured) lists HSBC as its official banking partner

The London-listed bank (Hong Kong HQ pictured) makes most of its money in the Chinese city 

The MPs’ letter to Wimbledon chief executive Sally Bolton states: ‘This year, when 1st July is the 25th anniversary of the handover of Hong Kong to China, we must show Hongkongers that they are not alone, that those who support their oppression will not benefit from doing so’, The Telegraph reported.

Ms Bolton is in favour of ending the partnership, lobbying colleagues at the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) to do so.

She wrote that HSBC’s support for the Hong Kong crackdown makes it ‘complicit in gross human rights abuses in the city’.

AELTC CEO Sally Bolton (pictured, April) said HSBC is ‘complicit in gross human rights abuses’

‘The AELTC encapsulates some of the very best of Wimbledon’s values of integrity and respect,’ her own letter to the body said. 

HSBC recently unveiled a new sponsorship deal with British star Emma Raducanu, 19

‘To receive financial support from a bank which profits from human rights abuses is a stain on that exemplary reputation.’

HSBC cashpoints in Hong Kong were targeted by pro-democracy protesters after the bank spoke in favour of legislation to bring the self-governed city under Chinese control.

The controversial bill passed in 2021 after mass demonstrations allowed closed-room court cases.

Other contentious features include a new Chinese law enforcement agency in Hong Kong accountable only to Beijing. 

Chinese law also now takes priority over Hong Kong law where the two clash. 

Signatories of the MPs’ letter include Labour member for nearby Mitcham and Morden Siobhan McDonagh and ex-Green Party leader Baroness Bennett.

Wimbledon resisted calls to end its lucrative sponsorship deal with the bank after campaigners spoke out against its ties to the Hong Kong security law last year.

HSBC recently unveiled a new partnership with tennis champion Emma Raducanu.