Men jailed over work for Chinese intelligence in UK

Chi Leung "Peter" Wai and Chung Biu "Bill" Yuen were found guilty on Thursday after a trial at the Old Bailey

A Border Force officer and his "handler" have been jailed for spying on Hong Kong pro-democracy dissidents in the UK on behalf of China.

Chi Leung "Peter" Wai, 40, was sentenced to 10 years and Chung Biu "Bill" Yuen, 65, given an eight year term after being found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service, an offence under the National Security Act.

Wai, who used his position to access the Home Office computer system to track down people for his contacts, was also convicted of misconduct in public office.

The judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told the dual Chinese-British nationals that their actions "threaten the sovereignty of the state" during sentencing at the Old Bailey on Thursday.

The men, who were found guilty after a trial last month, were involved in what detectives described as a "shadow policing operation... conducted on behalf of the Hong Kong authorities, and by extension, the Chinese state".

Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, was a former UK police officer who began working as a Border Force officer at Heathrow Airport in December 2020 and accessed a vast database of information about foreign nationals in the UK for his contacts.

He was sentenced to six years for assisting a foreign intelligence service and an additional four years for misconduct in public office.

Yuen, from Hackney, a former Hong Kong police officer who went on to work as the office manager of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, became Wai's contact with Chinese authorities.

The case raised serious questions about foreign interference and the ability of hostile states to gather information on individuals living in Britain.

Cdr Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said in a statement that the investigation shows this kind of activity in the UK will not be tolerated.

"I want to be really clear that if you are working on behalf of a foreign state, that we in counter-terrorism policing and with our partners will identify who you are and bring the full force of the National Security Act upon you."

Security Minister Angela Eagle said the government "will continue to hold China to account and take action against anything that puts the safety of people in our country at risk", including Hong Kong police's use of arrest warrants and bounties.

A Hong Kong government spokesperson said the "relevant conviction involved unfounded allegations and smearing" and accused the UK side of initiating the case on "groundless accusations", adding it "abused law and manipulated judicial procedures to secure conviction".

The spokesperson said the allegations in the case were unrelated to the Hong Kong government or its Economic and Trade office in London, where Yuen works, and it would continue to refute the accusations.

In the public gallery on Thursday, a number of pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong watched as the sentences were handed down. Among them was one activist who has had a HK$1 million (£100,000) bounty placed on her by authorities in Hong Kong.

When Wai started working at Heathrow, he sent a message to the former chief superintendent of Hong Kong Police's Criminal Intelligence Bureau Eddie Ma, who still had links to the Chinese state.

"Will not let any cockroaches in," Wai wrote.

During the trial, the jury heard that "special attention" was also paid to British politicians, such as Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

Wai, who holds both British and Hong Kong passports, has had many jobs - including as an officer with the Metropolitan Police from 2015 to 2019.

He was in the Royal Navy for eight years, and worked for a company providing security for events in Chinatown. Wai had also set up his own company, D5 Security.

After leaving the Met, he became a volunteer constable for City of London Police.

Wai also drew a fellow Border Force officer, an ex-Royal Marine called Matthew Trickett, into his surveillance of Hong Kong dissidents, the court heard.

In 2023, Hong Kong's chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu, its most senior politician, put bounties of HK$1m (around £100,000) on the heads of some pro-democracy campaigners.

In November 2023, Trickett was tasked by Wai to arrange for high-profile Hong Kong activist Nathan Law, who had a HK$1m bounty on his head, to be followed when he was speaking at the Oxford Union student society.