A Border Force official and a retired Hong Kong police officer have been found guilty of spying for China on British soil, prompting the Foreign Office to summon the Chinese ambassador.
Convictions Under the National Security Act
Peter Wai, 40, and Bill Yuen, 65, both dual Chinese-British nationals, were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act after a two-month trial at the Old Bailey. The pair conducted what the court heard were "shadow policing" operations targeting Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters living in the UK.
The convictions follow a failed attempt to snatch a former Hong Kong resident, Monica Kwong, from her flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Security minister Dan Jarvis confirmed that Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang has been summoned to make clear that such activity is unacceptable on UK soil.
Details of the Espionage Operation
Wai, who worked for the UK Border Force and was a City of London Police special constable, had previously served in the Royal Navy. He gathered intelligence on orders from Yuen, a former Hong Kong police superintendent who was a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) in London.
Targets included Hong Kong dissidents, with "special attention" paid to British politicians, including senior Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith. The defendants referred to their targets as "cockroaches" as they monitored their vehicles, homes, and social media accounts.
Prominent campaigner Nathan Law, who has a one million Hong Kong dollar bounty on his head (£95,680), was photographed leaving the Oxford Union during one surveillance operation.
The Failed Kidnapping Attempt
Ms Kwong, a personal assistant who left Hong Kong in 2023 amid fraud allegations she denied, was tracked down by Wai using the Home Office computer system. The defendants assembled a team to access her home using "underhand means, deception and then force," jurors were told.
Among the team was Matthew Trickett, 37, an immigration enforcement officer and former Royal Marine, who was filmed repeatedly knocking on Ms Kwong's door and pouring bottled water on the floor to simulate a flood. Police, aware of the plot, were monitoring the activities and were inside the flat when the team broke in.
Upon Wai's arrest, officers found his warrant card as a special police constable and a fake card identifying him as a superintendent. Of the 11 people arrested, only Trickett was charged alongside Wai and Yuen, but he was found dead in woodland near Maidenhead, Berkshire, a week later.
Court Proceedings and Sentencing
Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, and Yuen, from Hackney, east London, had pleaded not guilty to all charges. Wai told jurors he was a lion dancing instructor and former Royal Navy member, while Yuen claimed his role at HKETO was limited to building security and not intelligence gathering.
The jury failed to reach a verdict on charges of foreign interference. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb remanded the defendants into custody for sentencing at a later date, after the prosecution confirmed it would not seek a retrial.
Official Reactions
Bethan David, head of the counter terrorism division at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: "These convictions send a clear message that transnational repression, foreign interference, unauthorised surveillance, and attempts to operate outside the law will not be tolerated on British soil."
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, described the activity as "both sinister and chilling," adding: "It is completely unacceptable for anyone to carry out this kind of activity on behalf of a foreign state here in the UK."
Polly Truscott, Amnesty International UK's foreign policy director, said the case laid bare the Hong Kong government's "chilling" determination to spy on activists in the UK, calling for protection of students, activists, and asylum seekers.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said: "The activities carried out by these men, on behalf of China, are an infringement of our sovereignty and will never be tolerated. We will continue to hold China to account and challenge them directly for actions which put the safety of people in our country at risk."
The Henry Jackson Society has called for a reassessment of Britain's approach, with director of national security Dr John Hemmings arguing that China should be added to the enhanced tier of the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme.
