Bank of China Building Was an Anti-Capitalist Propaganda Tool

In 1934, the Nationalist government of China commissioned the renowned architectural firm Palmer and Turner to design its headquarters in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Construction of the Shanghai headquarters began in 1936. However, the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 delayed construction of the new Bank of China branches in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Although the war ended in 1945, the Chinese Civil War immediately intensified between the Nationalists and the Communists. In 1949, the Communists seized power and established control over mainland China. Palmer and Turner were subsequently ordered to redesign the Bank of China Building in Hong Kong. The objective was to surpass the neighboring HSBC headquarters, symbolically asserting the supremacy of Communism over Capitalism.

When the Bank of China Building in Hong Kong was completed in 1951, it stood 6 meters (20 feet) taller than its capitalist rival, HSBC. Sixteen years later, the 1967 riots plunged Hong Kong into chaos. Enormous banners covered the facade of the Bank of China Building, displaying aggressive slogans such as "Stew the White-Skinned Pig," while roof-mounted loudspeakers blasted anti-capitalist propaganda.

Archives later revealed that the Bank of China had been used to funnel 12 million HKD (approximately 1.5 million USD) to leftist groups in Hong Kong to fuel the unrest.