On Thursday, May 7th, a court in London sentenced two men to guilty verdicts on charges of engaging in espionage activities on behalf of Hong Kong and even the Chinese Communist Party in the UK, assisting the CCP in monitoring prominent democratic dissidents residing in the UK. This marks one of the first large-scale prosecutions carried out by the UK under the expanded National Security Law.
The convicted individuals are 65-year-old Chung Biu Yuen (Bill Yuen) and 40-year-old Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, both holding dual Chinese and British nationalities. The two men were found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey Court in London on Thursday, convicted of violating the National Security Law by assisting a foreign intelligence agency from December 2023 to May 2024.
Yuen, a retired Hong Kong police officer, formerly served as the office manager of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. Wai, on the other hand, was a former employee of the UK Border Force and a special constable with the London Metropolitan Police. Initially, Yuen acted as the liaison between Wai and the Hong Kong authorities.
The jury failed to reach a unanimous decision on the charge of “foreign interference” against the two men, which accused them of forcibly entering the residence of a suspected fraudster from Hong Kong living in West Yorkshire.
Wai was also found guilty of misconduct in public office for abusing his position in the Border Force to access the Home Office’s computer system. Starting in December 2020, Wai worked as a Border Force officer at Heathrow Airport, granting him access to a vast database of information on foreign nationals in the UK.
This case, brought forward in 2024, signifies the second use of the National Security Law by the UK since its introduction in 2023 to combat hostile state activities, expanding the definition of espionage activities.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson informed the jury that Yuen and Wai’s mission was to conduct “shadow policing operations” for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and even the CCP.
Atkinson stated that this case involved spying on current dissenters residing in the UK, including activist Joshua Wong, for whom the Hong Kong government offered a reward of 1 million Hong Kong dollars for information leading to his location or arrest.
“They (Chinese and Hong Kong authorities) want to know where they are, where they live, what they are doing, who they are interacting with, who they are communicating with, and how they are doing it, which is exactly what these defendants sought to obtain,” Atkinson said.
Since the democratic protest movement swept Hong Kong in 2019, relations between the UK and China have remained tense due to China’s comprehensive national security crackdown.
The two men met in 2017, and by mid-2021, Wai had begun directly reporting the activities of dissenters and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong to Yuen in the UK.
The jury examined communications between Yuen, Wai, and others. The prosecution claimed that these communications revealed discussions regarding plans to surveil individuals referred to as “cockroaches” and monitor British political figures.
The court learned that Wai had also recruited a British Border Force officer and former Royal Marine, Matthew Trickett, to participate in monitoring dissidents from Hong Kong.
Shortly after being apprehended by counter-terrorism police, Trickett was found dead, presumably by suicide. Trickett had also worked as an immigration officer and private investigator.
In 2023, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam offered a 1 million Hong Kong dollar (approximately 100,000 pounds) reward to capture certain pro-democracy activists, stating they would be pursued for “life.” The Chinese government also announced the launch of “Operation Fox Hunt” and “Sky Net” overseas.
In November 2023, commissioned by Wai, Trickett tracked prominent Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong to the Oxford Union.
Another man monitored by Wai was Finn Lau, for whom the Hong Kong government offered a 1 million Hong Kong dollar reward.
Lau garnered attention as a protester during the 2019 and 2020 highly publicized anti-extradition protests movements in Hong Kong. Five years ago, he was assaulted by unidentified individuals in London.
In April 2023, Wai was still a member of the UK Border Force when he provided security services during a visit by Hong Kong Secretary of Financial Affairs and Treasury James Lau in London.
Utilizing his London Metropolitan Police identification, Wai threatened to arrest a protester opposing Lau’s visit, although he was not acting in an official police capacity that day.
By 2024, the UK intelligence agency MI5 had become aware of Wai’s activities and those of his team.