UK court jails 2 British-Chinese nationals for spying on Hong Kong dissidents

A British court on Thursday jailed two dual Chinese-British nationals for spying on UK-based Hong Kong dissidents, calling their actions “deliberate, concerted, and serious.”Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grub sentenced former UK Border Force official Peter Wai, 40, to 10 years in prison and retired Hong Kong police officer Bill Yuen, 65, to eight years for carrying out what was termed “shadow policing” on British soil on behalf of China.Sentencing Yuen and Wai at London’s Old Bailey court, the judge said they had caused “real and significant” harm and left their victims in “fear and distress.”Following a two-month trial, both men were convicted in May of assisting a foreign intelligence service under national security laws.The court also found Wai guilty of misconduct in a public office. According to prosecutor, he searched the UK Home Office computer system for individuals of interest to the Hong Kong authorities.He previously served in the British police and Royal Navy before working for the UK’s Border Force immigration and customs enforcement agency.The jury heard that Wai gathered intelligence on instructions from Yuen, a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO), which represents Hong Kong’s government in London.Tens of thousands of people, including democracy activists wanted by Chinese authorities, have moved to Britain since Hong Kong enacted a national security law in mid-2020.The caseBesides their usual targets, the pair paid “special attention” to politicians, including senior Conservative Party figure Iain Duncan Smith.Yuen and Wai carried out information gathering, surveillance and deception, with one operation involving photographs of prominent campaigner Nathan Law.Their activities coincided with Hong Kong authorities announcing bounties of around £100,000 ($132,000) for information to identify several UK-based activists, including Law.The sweeping Hong Kong National Security Law, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony, has contributed to years of strained relations, further worsened by mutual accusations of spying between London and Beijing.Britain’s Labour government has sought to reset ties but has faced domestic opposition, particularly after approving plans for a new Chinese mega-embassy in London.(With AFP inputs)