UK Pair Convicted for Spying on Hong Kong Dissidents in Britain

Britain’s asylum and immigration systems were exposed as a national-security weak point when a Border Force officer was convicted of using Home Office databases to track Hong Kong dissidents living in the United Kingdom. The case centered on Chi Leung “Peter” Wai and Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, a retired Hong Kong police superintendent, whom prosecutors said ran a “shadow policing” operation against pro-democracy exiles who had believed they were beyond Beijing’s reach.

A jury at the Old Bailey found both men guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service between December 20, 2023, and May 2, 2024, under the National Security Act 2023. Wai, 38, was also convicted of misconduct in a public office for making unauthorised searches of Home Office databases between September 16, 2022, and May 2, 2024. Prosecutors said Wai had access to those systems through his work at Heathrow Airport, where he served for UK Border Force and had previously been a special constable with the City of London Police.

The prosecution said the pair used surveillance, intimidation, deception and information-gathering to monitor Hong Kong diaspora figures in Britain, including activist Nathan Law. The court heard that dissidents were described as “cockroaches,” and that Hong Kong authorities had offered a HK$1 million bounty for information leading to the whereabouts or capture of exiles including Law. The convictions mark what has been described as the first of their kind under the National Security Act for working for China on British soil.

The case also widened into a broader picture of alleged overseas pressure on Hong Kong activists. Among those linked to the network was Matthew Trickett, a former Royal Marine and immigration enforcement officer, who worked with the defendants before his death in Maidenhead, Berkshire, on May 19, 2024, shortly after his first court appearance. The jury did not reach a verdict on a separate charge over an alleged attempt to force entry to the flat of Monica Kwong in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, on May 1, 2024, and prosecutors said they would not seek a retrial on that count.

The convictions revive sharp questions about how democratic governments protect exiles and dissidents once they leave authoritarian territory. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office summoned Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang in May 2024 over foreign interference allegations, and after the verdicts he was summoned again by a Home Office minister, who said such activity would always be unacceptable. Wai and Yuen were remanded in custody ahead of sentencing, while Hong Kong’s diaspora in Britain was left with another reminder that state power can travel far beyond national borders.