Ancient China meted out many cruel torments to its victims, like water torture or death by a thousand cuts.

Perhaps termination by breakup can be added, at least as far as HSBC is concerned.

For the decision by insurer Ping An, HSBC’s largest shareholder, publicly to call for the bank to break up underlines what is reckoned to be its increasingly untenable position in trying to straddle both East and West.

Indeed, this has raised so many questions i...