Photo: VCG

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam no longer has a bank account and has been forced to keep piles of cash at home to make purchases since she was sanctioned by the US, to which she said it's an honor to protect the national security.

The Hong Kong news platform mingpao.com reported that the salary of Hong Kong's chief executive is HK$430,000 a month. 

"I have piles of cash at home... the government pays me in cash... I don't have a bank account," Lam was quoted as saying by the news site stheadline.com. She now makes all her purchases with cash, and despite all the inconvenience, she said that it's an honor to protect national security.

The US Department of Treasury in August imposed sanctions on 11 Chinese mainland and Hong Kong officials,  including Lam, for allegedly undermining the city's autonomy. 

Fan Peng, a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies, told the Global Times on Saturday that mainland banks are also affected by the US sanctions as they use the same SWIFT global payments system.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority in August said although the sanctions lack legal standing in Hong Kong, they have still put some locally operated foreign banks with strong links to the US in a quandary.

Lam said on August 17 that she was not afraid of the sanctions because she has no assets in the US and doesn't yearn to go there.

Lam said that since the implementation of the national security law, Hong Kong's social order has gradually returned to normal.