Chinese spies threatening 'sovereignty of the British state' jailed for targeting Hong Kong dissidents

Two Chinese spies threatening "sovereignty of the British state" have been jailed for targeting Hong Kong dissidents.

Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 41 and Chung Biu (Bill) Yuen, 66, have been convicted of assisting a country's foreign intelligence service in the first case of its kind.

Wai and Yuen, a former UK Border Force Officer and an ex-Hong Kong police officer respectively, were convicted under the 2023 National Security Act at the Old Bailey today.

Wai was also convicted of misconduct in a public office by abusing the Home Office system to search people of interest to the Hong Kong authorities.

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Wai, who is from Staines in Surrey was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

His handler, Yuen, from Hackney in east London was sentenced for eight years.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the men's actions were “deliberate, concerted and serious”.

She said: “Both of you played significant roles in the enterprise, which was primarily motivated by your enduring affinity with, or loyalty to, the Chinese state despite your dual British-Hong Kong citizenship."

The judge continued to say the men caused "real and significant" harm, which left their targets in fear.

She described Wai's attitude as "arrogant", saying he had a "sense of entitlement".

Wai had served as frontline officer with the Metropolitan police in Hounslow between February 2015 and April 2019.

He resigned from the police under investigation for misconduct after admitting to a supervisor he had used his deceased grandfather's address on a loan application to avoid tax.

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The convicted Chinese spy also accessed police records as a favour for friends, though police found no evidence he had used the database for espionage at the time.

After leaving the force, the former Royal Navy serviceman worked at Heathrow Airport for UK Border Force, served as a special constable with the City of London and set up a private security firm - all while spying for Yuen.

He accessed a Home Office database to gather intelligence during periods of sick leave and days off.

His handled, Yuen, who was a former Hong Kong superintendent, worked as a office manage at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London.

The office is described as an extension of the Hong Kong Government in the UK.

Investigators directly linked him to China's Security Bureau through his contact with another former senior police officer.

The pair targeted Hong Kong dissidents, with particular focus on British politicians including senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith.

Wai referred to Hong Kongers as "cockroaches" as he collected information on the vehicles they drove, their home addresses and their social media profiles.

The dual Chinese-British nationals were arrested after they failed to capture £16million fraud suspect Monica Kwong from her home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

Having tracked her down, the defendants assembled a team to gain entry to her home by deception and later by force, leading to their arrest on May 1, 2024.

Matthew Trickett, 37, an immigration enforcement officer and former Royal Marine, attempted to bluff his way into the flat by claiming there was a flood, but security services had been alerted and were already inside the property when the team broke in.

On his arrest, officers found Wai in possession of his special constable warrant card alongside a second, forged card identifying him as a superintendent.

Trickett was charged alongside Wai and Yuen, but he took his own life in woodland near Maidenhead a week later.

Counsel for Yuen, Jonathan Caplan KC, disputed that the former officer had betrayed his adopted country, saying there was evidence he was "very proud to be living in this country and thought a great deal of Great Britain".

Aftab Jafferjee KC, representing Wai, argued there had been no harm to the UK, saying the operation was "not a spy ring in any traditional sense".

Helen Flanagan, commander for Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the activities of Wai and Yuen had been "truly chilling," targeting pro-democracy campaigners who were simply protesting against the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities and seeking sanctuary in the UK.

Frank Ferguson of the Crown Prosecution Service said the convictions sent a clear message of "transnational repression, foreign interference, unauthorised surveillance and attempts to operate outside the law will not be tolerated on British soil".

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