Highlights:
- Court convicts two UK-Chinese dual nationals in Hong Kong spying case
- Former Hong Kong police officer and ex-UK Border Force officer found guilty
- Prosecutors said pair targeted dissidents and pro-democracy activists in Britain
- Jury failed to reach verdict on separate foreign interference charge
TWO UK-Chinese dual nationals were found guilty by a London court on Thursday of spying on Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy activists living in Britain on behalf of Hong Kong and ultimately China.
Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, 65, a retired Hong Kong police superintendent, and Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 38, a former UK Border Force officer, were convicted at London’s Old Bailey court of assisting a foreign intelligence service between December 2023 and May 2024.
Wai was also convicted of misconduct in a public office after accessing the British interior ministry’s computer system to search for people of interest to Hong Kong authorities.
The jury deliberated for nearly 24 hours but failed to reach verdicts on another charge of foreign interference linked to an alleged attempt to force entry into the home of a woman in northern England accused of fraud in Hong Kong. Prosecutors later said they would not seek a retrial.
The two men were remanded in custody ahead of sentencing, with a hearing set for May 15.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told jurors the pair had carried out “shadow policing operations” for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and ultimately China.
The court heard Wai gathered intelligence on the orders of Yuen, who worked as a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London.
According to prosecutors, the pair targeted Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy protesters living in Britain, while also paying “special attention” to politicians including senior Conservative politician Iain Duncan Smith.
The court heard they conducted surveillance, gathered information and used deception during operations that included photographing campaigner Nathan Law.
Atkinson told jurors the defendants sought information on activists wanted by Hong Kong authorities.
“They wanted to know where they were, where they live, what they are doing, who they are associating with, who they are communicating with and how they are doing that and those are the very things that these defendants were in the business of obtaining,” Atkinson said.
Jurors heard Hong Kong authorities had issued bounties of around £100,000, or HK$1 million, for information leading to activists including Law.
Messages shown to the jury allegedly revealed discussions about targeting activists, who were referred to as “cockroaches”, and conducting surveillance on British political figures.
Another protester told jurors Wai threatened him with arrest after he confronted a Hong Kong diplomat in London.
The prosecution said messages on Yuen’s phone showed surveillance of Law had begun as early as 2021.
The defendants’ activities came to light in May 2024 when police stopped an alleged attempt to remove a former Hong Kong resident from her flat in Yorkshire, the court heard.
Yuen, who lived in Hackney in east London, and Wai, from Staines-upon-Thames, southwest of London, denied wrongdoing during the trial.
The case comes amid tensions between Britain and China over Hong Kong following pro-democracy protests in 2019 and the introduction of Hong Kong’s National Security Law in 2020.
The Chinese Embassy in London has accused Britain of fabricating the charges against the two men.
A third defendant, former Royal Marine Matthew Trickett, who had also worked as an immigration officer and private investigator, was found dead shortly after charges were announced. Police said his death was not considered suspicious.
