China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly condemned the UK for “abusing the law and judicial process” after a British court found two men linked to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London guilty of spying on activists.
Bill Yuen Chung-biu, the London office’s manager, and Peter Wai Chi-leung, who ran a security firm, were found guilty on Thursday of assisting a foreign intelligence service, two years after their arrests thrust Hong Kong’s overseas promotion offices into the global spotlight.
Ministry spokesman Lin Jian described the charges on Friday as lacking “factual basis” and accused the United Kingdom of “securing the conviction by abusing the law and judicial process”.
“Such groundless accusations and smears against China are nothing but a typical political stunt. China strongly deplores and firmly opposes it, and has lodged serious protests against the UK,” he said.
Following the verdict, the Hong Kong government also said the allegations were “absolutely” unrelated to the administration, while maintaining that the office was conducting its duties in accordance with legislation in the United Kingdom.
“Nor are we party to the case,” he said. “We firmly oppose any unfounded allegations against the [Hong Kong] government and the London [office].”
Yuen, a retired Hong Kong police superintendent, was accused of passing surveillance requests from city authorities to Wai while working at the office.
Wai was also convicted of misconduct in public office, with digital evidence showing he misused Home Office computer systems while off duty and “shared sensitive information obtained through his public role”, according to a press release from the Crown Prosecution Service, the UK’s principal government prosecution agency.
Prosecutors said Wai had used his position as a UK Border Force officer to gather personal information from the computer systems about Hong Kong activists in the country.
But the agency said the jury could not reach verdicts on foreign interference charges against either man. They were suspected of forcing entry into a UK residential address and being reckless as to whether their conduct would have an interfering effect.
British media reported that Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang was summoned to the UK’s Foreign Office following the verdict. British security minister Dan Jarvis described the case as an infringement of Britain’s sovereignty.
The Chinese embassy in the UK said the case was a “political move” that showed the British government was “abusing the law and manipulating the judicial process”.
“Its sole purpose is to embolden those anti-China elements who are hiding in the UK and bent on destabilising Hong Kong and to smear both the Chinese government and the Hong Kong government,” it said.
Yuen and Wei, both dual Chinese-British nationals, denied charges of assisting a foreign intelligence service by engaging in unlawful information gathering, illegal surveillance and committing acts of deception between December 2023 and May 2024, in violation of Britain’s National Security Act.
They also denied forcibly entering a residential property on May 1.
That same month, a third suspect, former Royal Marine and Border Force officer Matthew Trickett, was found dead 18 days after being released on bail.
According to the UK’s Metropolitan Police, an inquest into Trickett’s death is expected after the conclusion of the current criminal proceedings.
During the trial, which began in early March, prosecutors said Yuen had received a list of British political figures – including Iain Duncan Smith, co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China – from a retired police officer, and was tasked with gathering details on their links to certain activists and whether they were “causing disturbances in Hong Kong”.
The court heard that Nathan Law Kwun-chung, one of 19 wanted fugitives with HK$1 million (US$127,700) bounties placed on their heads by Hong Kong police, was among the targets.
Yuen told the court he reached out to Wai after the office was frequently targeted by protesters in 2021, saying help from the Metropolitan Police’s Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command was only occasional and inadequate.
He said he considered Wai, who had a background as a volunteer police constable and ran a security company, to be the “perfect match” at the time, as he was looking for enhanced security services.
But Yuen denied that the contracts subsequently offered to Wai included carrying out surveillance for the office.
Wai told the court that after leaving the UK police in 2019, he was contacted by a retired Hong Kong officer who instructed him to follow Law and former lawmaker Ted Hui Chi-fung for a monthly fee of HK$50,000. He told the court that it was for a documentary about overseas Hongkongers.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong government said on Thursday that in light of “past assaults” on visiting city officials and “local disruptions”, the office had hired local security firms to provide protection and arrange transport during official visits.
Yuen and Wai have been remanded in custody. A sentencing date will be announced on May 15. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
