Hong Kong spies jailed over ‘shadow police’ ops in UK

A former British immigration official and a retired Hong Kong police officer have been jailed for spying for China.

Peter Wai, 41, conducted “shadow policing” operations on Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters living in the UK on the orders of his handler Bill Yuen, 66.

The dual Chinese-British nationals were arrested after a failed bid to snatch £16 million (€18.5 million) fraud suspect Monica Kwong from her flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.

Following a two-month Old Bailey trial, the pair were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act.

Former Metropolitan Police officer Wai was also convicted of misconduct in a public office by misusing the Home Office computer system to find out about people of interest to Hong Kong authorities.

On Thursday, Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and Yuen, from Hackney, east London, was jailed for eight years.

In a televised sentencing, Judge Cheema-Grubb said the defendants’ actions were “deliberate, concerted, and serious”.

They had caused “real and significant” harm, leaving those targeted in fear and distress, the judge said.

She described Wai’s attitude towards his misconduct as “arrogant”, saying he had a “sense of entitlement” to do as he pleased.

The case is one of the first to be prosecuted under the National Security Act, which came into force in 2023.

Wai had worked as a frontline uniformed officer with the Metropolitan Police based in Hounslow between February 2015 and April 2019 when he resigned.

At the time, he was under investigation for misconduct after he told a supervisor that he used his deceased grandfather’s address on a loan application to avoid tax.

He had also accessed police records as a favour for friends, but police said there was no evidence he had used its database for spying.

The ex-Royal Navy serviceman worked at Heathrow airport for the UK Border Force, as a special constable with City of London Police, and set up a private security firm when he began spying for Yuen.

He accessed the Home Office database to gather intelligence while on sick leave and days off.

His taskmaster and handler, ex-Hong Kong superintendent Yuen, was office manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) in London, said to be an extension in the UK of the Hong Kong government.

Investigators linked Yuen directly back to the Chinese government’s Security Bureau via his contact with another ex-police chief.

Previously, Wai, who led a traditional lion dancing group, had carried out intelligence gathering for another former senior Hong Kong police officer with strong links into the Chinese state.

Targets included Hong Kong dissidents – with “special attention” paid to British politicians, including senior Tory MP Iain Duncan Smith.

Wai called Hong Kongers “cockroaches” as he gathered information on what cars they were driving, where they lived and their social media accounts.

Prominent campaigner Nathan Law, who has a one million Hong Kong dollar bounty on his head (€110,270), was pictured leaving the Oxford Union during one surveillance operation.

Personal assistant Kwong had left Hong Kong with her young son in 2023 amid accusations of involvement in a £16 million (€18.5 million) fraud, which she denied.

Having located Kwong, the defendants, who are both married with children, put a team together to access her home using deception – and later force – leading to their arrest on May 1st 2024.

Matthew Trickett, 37, an immigration enforcement officer and ex-Royal Marine, tried to trick his way into the flat by pretending there was a flood, jurors heard.

Having been alerted to what was going on, security services were bugging their activities and were waiting inside the flat when the team finally broke in.

On Wai’s arrest, officers found his warrant card as a special police constable and a second – fake – card identifying him as a superintendent.

Of the 11 people detained under the National Security Act, only Trickett, who worked as a Home Office immigration officer, was charged with Wai and Yuen under the National Security Act.

But a week later, he killed himself in woodland near Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Mitigating for Yuen, Jonathan Caplan KC disputed that the “highly regarded” former senior officer had “betrayed” his adopted country.

He said: “There is evidence he was very proud to be living in this country and thought a great deal of Great Britain.”

Aftab Jafferjee, for Wai, asserted there was no “harm” to the UK, saying: “It is not a spy ring in any traditional sense.”

Helen Flanagan, commander for Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “The activity of Wai and Yuen was truly chilling.

“They were spying and targeting individuals in the UK who were pro-democracy campaigners and were simply protesting against the Hong Kong and Chinese government and authorities and seeking sanctuary in the UK.”

Frank Ferguson, from the Crown Prosecution Service, 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.

“This conduct was deliberate, co-ordinated and carried out with full knowledge of who it would benefit, as demonstrated by extensive digital and financial material presented during the trial.

“The CPS will not hesitate to prosecute cases where evidence shows illegal attempts to interfere, intimidate, or operate covertly in the United Kingdom.”