Border official and ex-Hong Kong chief guilty of spying for China | World | News

A Border Force officer and a retired Hong Kong police officer have been found guilty of spying for China on British soil.
Peter Wai, 40, and Bill Yuen, 65, both Chinese-British nationals, conducted “shadow policing” operations against Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters living in the United Kingdom.

They were arrested following a failed attempt to kidnap former Hong Kong resident Monica Kwong from her flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Following a two-month Old Bailey trial, the pair were found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act. Wai was also found guilty on Thursday of misconduct in a public office by searching the Home Office computer system for people of interest to Hong Kong authorities. The court heard how Wai worked for the UK Border Force; He was a City of London Police special officer who had previously served in the Royal Navy. He had gathered intelligence on the orders of Yuen, a former Hong Kong inspector who is a senior executive at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) in London, said to be the Hong Kong government’s extension in the United Kingdom.

Targets included Hong Kong dissidents; British politicians, including senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith, were given “special attention”.

The defendants described the targets as “cockroaches” as they gathered intelligence about what car they drove, where they lived and their social media accounts.

Prominent campaigner Nathan Law, who has a one million Hong Kong dollar (£95,680) bounty on his head, was photographed leaving the Oxford Union during a surveillance operation.

Personal assistant Ms Kwong left Hong Kong with her young son in 2023 amid accusations that she was involved in a £16 million fraud, a claim she has denied.

Wai had called the Home Office computer system to obtain information about Ms Kwong and pro-democracy campaigners.
Jurors were told that the defendants who located Ms Kwong formed a team to gain access to her home “using underhanded methods, deception and then force”.

The team kept him under surveillance and then tried to “lure” him into his home by pretending to be electricians coming to fix the fuse, the court heard.

Among those present was Matthew Trickett, 37, an immigration enforcement officer and former Royal Marine who was filmed repeatedly knocking on Ms Kwong’s door.

The woman proceeded to pour bottled water on the floor to simulate a fake flood as part of a failed ruse to get Ms Kwong out of the flat, the hearing heard.

Alerted to what was happening, police bugged their activities and were waiting inside the flat when the team finally broke in.

Upon Wai’s arrest, officers found a warrant card identifying him as a special constable and a second fake card identifying him as an investigator.

Of the 11 people arrested, only Trickett, who worked as a Home Office immigration officer, was charged with Wai and Yuen under the National Security Act. But a week later he was found dead in woodland near Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Wai, from Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, and Yuen, from Hackney, east London, have pleaded not guilty to all the charges against them.

While giving evidence, Wai, known as Fatboy to his colleagues, told jurors that he was an instructor in the lion dance, a traditional Chinese martial art, and had previously been in the Royal Navy.

Yuen told jurors how he became an officer manager at HKETO after retiring from the Hong Kong police after 18 years.

Securing the building was part of his job, but passing intelligence to Chinese officials in Hong Kong was not, he said.

Yuen said he hired Wai’s private security firm to provide protection for HKETO and visiting dignitaries targeted by protesters.

The jury, which deliberated for 23 hours and 38 minutes, was dismissed after failing to reach a verdict regarding the defendants due to external intervention.

Ms Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded the defendants in custody for sentencing at a later date after the prosecution said the Crown would not seek a retrial.

Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) counter-terrorism division, said: “These convictions send a clear message that transnational pressure, foreign interference, intrusive surveillance and attempted unlawful activity on British soil will not be tolerated.

“This conduct was deliberate, coordinated and carried out with full knowledge of whose benefit it would benefit, as evidenced by the extensive digital and financial material presented during the hearing.

“The CPS will not hesitate to prosecute cases where there is evidence showing unlawful interference, intimidation or unlawful attempts to operate covertly in the UK. We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to ensure that those who abuse positions of trust or act on behalf of foreign interests are properly held to account.”

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of London Counter Terrorism Police, said: “Wai and Yuen’s activities were both sinister and chilling. Our investigation revealed they were spying on behalf of Hong Kong authorities and targeting UK-based pro-democracy campaigners.”

“It is completely unacceptable for anyone in the UK to carry out this type of activity on behalf of a foreign government. I hope this outcome provides reassurance to those living in the UK who are concerned about being targeted by any foreign government that we will do everything we can to keep them safe.”

Amnesty International UK foreign policy director Polly Truscott said the case revealed the Hong Kong government’s “chilling” determination to spy on activists in the UK.

He said: “The personal safety and privacy of students, activists and those seeking asylum here must be protected and they must be able to exercise their rights to expression, opinion and peaceful protest without fear of external interference or threats.”