Getting caught between two sovereign countries is never a fun experience for a bank, even if the worst that happens is that the lesser of them relieves you of the obligation to do business there. But China is not Argentina—certainly not if you are the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp.—nor is there really a lesser power in a dispute between China and the United States. Oh, and did we mention that we’re talking about HSBC, which quite frankly has enough problems without finding itself a pawn in the growing cold war between the world’s two superpowers and largest economies?