Hong Kong dissident Nathan Law on China spies in UK: ‘We’re not surprised’ | Hong Kong

NAthan Law, the exiled leader of the Hong Kong student protest and living with a £100,000 bounty on his head from Chinese authorities, was not surprised to learn that a gang of spies had photographed him as he entered the Oxford Union for an evening debate in November 2023.

The conviction at the Old Bailey of Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 38, and Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, 65, of aiding a foreign intelligence service was a thought-provoking first; Before Thursday, no Chinese spy had been convicted in British criminal history – but details revealed during the nine-week trial essentially confirmed his suspicions.

Law, 32, was already aware that he was a target and took his usual precautions before and after the debate in which he argued that China’s rise was a risk. As always, he was meticulous about checking who was around him. He was put in a car to go home. “There is no public information that suggests anything sensitive about my location has been compromised,” he said of that day.

It was also no surprise to him that Yuen, the older of the two convicts said to have masterminded the espionage, worked as a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, central London.

As the official overseas representation of the Hong Kong government, HKETO’s role is to promote trade, investment and cultural ties. But Law said every branch of the Hong Kong special administrative region had been politicized and used to ensure so-called national security since pro-democracy protests broke out in the territory in 2019.

“In Hong Kong, ‘national security’ means disagreeing with the government,” he said. “And that includes the role of HKETO; it’s also used to punish people who disagree with the government. The fact that it has a new function of spying, spying on dissidents, I don’t think we’re that surprised.”

But there was one key aspect of the hearing that seriously concerned Law: the access Wai, the younger of the two men, had as a result of his work as a UK Border Force officer and volunteer special constable with the City of London police.

The court heard that in a message in which Wai used a derogatory term for pro-democracy protesters, the dual British-Chinese national boasted that he could count the total monthly number of “cockroaches” entering the UK.

“He had access to the system that contained information about us,” Law said. “I think there is some evidence that suggests he used these systems to look up addresses or other sensitive personal information for me.

“I can only do so much to protect myself. I can detect everyone who is following me, take different routes, and do different things such as getting rid of them. I can hide my digital footprints. But it is not possible for me to give the details.” [British] and if databases are so accessible and there are no safeguards to protect people like us “If it is clearly the target of intelligence and covert operations from hostile governments, that is a cause for concern.”

The threat posed to dissidents in the UK by Chinese authorities when armed with such data stood out in evidence presented to parliament’s joint committee on human rights last year by Hong Kong Aid (HKA), an NGO that helps asylum seekers in the UK.

They reported that in 2024, addresses of Hong Kongers in Britain were exposed online and anti-immigration protesters were encouraged to “visit” them. “Messages from an anonymous user encourage anti-immigration activists and groups to physically approach addresses, potentially creating riots, creating a serious security concern,” HKA wrote.

It was stated that the NGO’s hotline has been continuously receiving suspicious phone calls from Hong Kong three times a day since 2022. It was later revealed that the number the calls were coming from was associated with the Hong Kong police. Hong Kong national security police had made threats against family members of people living in the United Kingdom and advocating democracy. In 2022, the dragging of a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester into the Chinese consulate in Manchester and beating there was said to highlight “the People’s Republic of China’s desire to extend repression to UK territory”.

In January, the UK government approved plans to establish a major new Chinese embassy at the Royal Mint Court in London, ending years of worrying debate about the security risks it would pose. For Law and others, the risks are just as real now.

“The Hong Kong diaspora in the UK is increasingly fearful,” HKA wrote in its submission. “Many avoid political interaction, stop participating in community events, and self-censor to avoid repercussions.”

This was true for Law. He takes no risks, offers little opportunity to Chinese officials, and the outcome of the case will not change the fact: “I’m cautious about some things.”