The HSBC bank accounts of Good Neighbour North District Church, its pastor Roy Chan and his wife were all frozen. The church was known for its protest-related initiative “Protect the Children”, which enlisted volunteers to defuse the tensions between police and protesters on the frontlines last year.

Lau Ka-tung, a social worker who was sentenced to one year in jail for impeding a police operation and an employee of the church since September, said his salary was also frozen.

“Every penny we get is through legal donation,” said Chan, in a video released on Tuesday afternoon. The Hong Kong government is now flexing its power to manipulate the assets of any entity due to political reasons, the pastor continued. “This is not just about our family, but rather about the bottom line of every Hongkonger, churches, social service providers and foreigner investors.”

“My family of five is living on an empty wallet, and we are still figuring out how we can take care of our kids and sustain our living here,” said Chan, who is in the U.K. for a few months of vacation while exploring plans to plant a church overseas. He added that the city is now unsafe for them, even though they stuck to the principles of being peaceful, rational and non-violent during protests.

HSBC refused to comment on the incident. The global bank reportedly received an order from Hong Kong police to freeze the bank accounts on the basis that their owners have violated the law.

According to the church’s statement released on Monday night, the church’s sole account at HSBC was frozen without prior notification. It slammed the move as an obvious political retaliation, severely undermining freedom of religion and social work. It also demanded HSBC to unfreeze their accounts immediately and provide a reasonable explanation.

The church’s volunteer group has provided humanitarian aid throughout the pro-democracy movement, however, like paramedics and reporters, they were seen by the regime as representing the dissenters.

With their bank accounts frozen, the church was forced to halt their services for the underprivileged community, including free dormitory space for homeless people in the Northern District, Yuen Long and Kwun Tong since 2014. The government has also sought the church for help with homeless shelters multiple times during the pandemic.

The church was registered as a charity in 2016 and funded by legal donations from members of the congregation and the public.

Speaking to Commercial Radio on Tuesday, Chan said he is unsure why their bank accounts are frozen and the church’s account has a seven-figure sum in savings. The pastor is in contact with the church and may approach the police directly.

Chan stressed that he has never crowdfunded under the name of the “Protect the Children” group, as the church only raises funds for homeless people as well as youngsters who need food. He worried that the homeless people they serve will be affected as the church cannot pay their rent. He also has trouble paying his own rent and the salary of his coworkers.

Click here for Chinese version

---------------------------------

Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE

To download the latest version,

iOS: bit.ly/AD_iOS

Android: bit.ly/AD_android

Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play