Home Office immigration official is exposed as Chinese spy: He is one of two men found guilty of surveilling Beijing dissidents on British soil in landmark trial

A Chinese spy ring has been found guilty of running ‘shadow policing’ operations on British soil.

In an unprecedented case that goes to the heart of the civil service, UK Border Force officer Peter Wai and retired Hong Kong police officer Bill Yuen spied on Chinese dissidents living in the UK and senior MPs who supported them.

In a shocking breach of national security, Wai used his privileged access to Ministry of Internal Affairs databases to provide intelligence to Beijing.

These convictions were the first convictions for Chinese espionage in British history.

But last night MPs warned the case was “just the tip of the iceberg” and should serve as a “wake-up call” to the Government about the threat posed by China.

It comes amid growing fears about Beijing’s increasing surveillance and intimidation campaign in the UK.

While the decision was welcomed by some, Tory MP Alicia Kearns, a member of the China Inter-Parliamentary Alliance, told the Daily Mail that “it won’t mean anything if this Government continues to appease Beijing.”

During the two-month trial at the Old Bailey, Wai, 40, and Yuen, 66, both dual Sino-British nationals, were told it was part of China’s “decisive measures” to “go beyond its own jurisdiction” and treat Britain as if it were its own backyard.

Wai was tasked by Bill Yuen to gather intelligence for Hong Kong authorities (pictured)

Prosecutors described the spy ring as part of Operation Foxhunt, a notorious campaign aimed at forcibly returning individuals to China for persecution.

The court heard that as well as working for the Border Force, Wai also volunteered as a City of London special constable while living in Staines, Surrey.

He gathered intelligence on the orders of Yuen, a former Hong Kong inspector who was office manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) in central London.

Targets included pro-democracy activist Nathan Law and senior Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

The Old Bailey heard Wai may have been misusing police computer systems or databases to collect names, addresses and other personal information since 2018.

Yuen, in turn, used Hong Kong trading office accounts to pay Wai almost £100,000 for his work and distributed it to a network of subcontractors.

The pair were arrested on 1 May 2024, following a failed target hunt, with the suspected unit under the surveillance of MI5.

Duncan Atkinson KC, for the prosecution, said the defendants ‘conducted shadow policing operations…acted as if they had the right to act as law enforcement or state intelligence services when no such authority exists in this country’.

Both men denied the charges. But yesterday they found him guilty of aiding a foreign intelligence service by a two-to-one majority.

Wai was also found guilty of abuse of public office.

But the jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether the pair were also involved in foreign interference, a separate crime under the National Security Act.

Prosecutors said they would not seek a retrial. The couple will be sentenced at a later date.

Yuen, 65, left, and Wai, 40, right, were convicted under the National Security Act 2023 after a trial at the Old Bailey.

Picture: Wai attending the New Year parade in London in January 2022

Following the verdict, Crown Prosecution Service Head of Counter Terrorism, Bethan David, said the convictions sent “a clear message that transnational pressure, foreign interference, intrusive surveillance and attempted unlawful activity on British soil will not be tolerated”.

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of pandering to China after his government approved plans to build a new mega embassy on the site of the former Royal Mint near the Tower of London.

The prime minister was also criticized last year for dropping charges against a parliamentary investigator and an academic accused of spying for China. Both denied the charges.

Sir Iain said yesterday’s convictions were “just the tip of the iceberg” of Chinese espionage and warned that “oppositionists will be under even greater threat” if a mega embassy is built.

He added: ‘The targeting of Chinese dissidents is a perennial problem but the Government is doing nothing about it.

‘This should be a wake-up call for the Government if it is needed.’

Director of the Henry Jackson Community National Security Center, Dr. John Hemmings said the case ‘underlines the need to re-evaluate the UK’s approach to Beijing’s operations on British soil’ and called on the Government to add China to the list of countries deemed to be high security threats, alongside Russia and Iran, a step it has so far failed to take.

Security minister Dan Jarvis said he would summon the Chinese ambassador ‘to make clear that such activities are, and always have been, unacceptable on UK soil’.