Carrie Lam: I Have Piles of Cash but No Bank Account

Hong Kong's chief executive says she deals only in cash. "I have piles of cash at home," Carrie Lam said. "The government is paying me cash for my salary because I don't have a bank account." US penalties are the reason, she said. The sanctions on a dozen or so officials, including Lam, were imposed after China enacted a new security law for Hong Kong, the BBC reports. Among other things, the law makes punishing protesters easier. Lam called it "very honourable" to be "unjustifiably sanctioned" by the US. She made the comments in an interview on an English TV channel broadcast Friday night. "I'm using cash for all the things," Lam said.

Mockery on social media followed, with posts wondering how Lam's salary is lugged to her home in cash, per the Guardian. Some put up photos of their piggy banks. Lam is among the highest-paid government leaders in the world, at about $670,000 per year. Lam earlier had said that the sanctions restrict her use of credit cards, which she described as "a little bit of inconvenience." (The security law, which took effect this summer, bans secessionist activity.)