Two men went on trial in London on March 4, accused by prosecutors of spying on well-known Hong Kong pro-democracy dissidents based in the UK on behalf of the city’s authorities and, ultimately, China.
Chung Biu Yuen, 65, and Chi Leung Wai, 38, both dual British and Chinese nationals, deny charges of assisting a foreign intelligence service between Dec. 2023 and May 2024, and conducting “foreign interference” by forcing entry into a residential address on May 1, 2024.
Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told a jury at the Old Bailey court in central London that the defendants engaged in “shadow policing operations on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and thereby the People’s Republic of China.”
The court heard that Yuen was a retired Hong Kong police officer who worked at Hong Kong’s Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London, while Wai, also known as Peter Wai, worked as a UK Border Force officer and as a volunteer part-time officer for the City of London Police.
Atkinson said the pair targeted pro-democracy activists who lived in the UK, some of whom had rewards of HK$1 million ($133,710) for information leading to their capture.
“Messaging on Mr Yuen’s phone between him and Wai indicated that surveillance on pro-democracy protester Nathan Law had been ongoing since 2021,” Atkinson said. “The evidence includes messages regarding surveillance against Nathan Law and discussion around his associates badmouthing Hong Kong.”
Atkinson, in his opening speech to the jury at the start of a trial expected to last nine weeks, said Wai is accused of gaining access to the Home Office’s computer system to make searches on behalf of the Hong Kong government.
The prosecutor said the defendants were also accused of gathering intelligence on behalf of HKETO about Monica Kwong, who left Hong Kong in December 2023.
Atkinson said the pair used deception and force to attempt to get into her home in the town of Pontefract in Yorkshire, in the north of England.
He told jurors: “Even if she were a fraudster, this was not a public-spirited citizen performing a citizen’s arrest, or a private detective locating someone to hand over to police. This was a ghost operation for Hong Kong police in the UK.”
The prosecutor said when Wai was arrested in Pontefract, he allegedly had on him a City of London Police officer warrant card and a bogus card identifying himself as a superintendent.
The prosecutor said Wai and another man called Matthew Trickett—who died in a park in Maidenhead in May 2024—were paid directly from the HKETO bank account.
Atkinson said Yuen was allegedly given a list in August 2023 of several prominent political figures, including Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative Party leader who is chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.
The Chinese Embassy in London has said the UK has no right to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs and accused the police of fabricating the evidence against Wai and Yuen.
Under English law, the prosecution presents its case to the jury, and the defense then responds to the allegations.
The defendants’ lawyers have therefore not yet announced the details of their defense, other than to deny the charges against their clients.
Reuters and PA Media contributed to this report.
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