The court heard the pair targeted Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy protesters living in Britain, with “special attention” also paid to politicians.
LONDON (AFP) — A British court on Thursday jailed two dual Chinese-British nationals after they were convicted of spying on Hong Kong dissidents in the U.K. on behalf of China.
Former U.K. Border Force official Peter Wai, 40, was jailed for 10 years and retired Hong Kong policeman Bill Yuen, 65, was given an eight-year term for conducting “shadow policing” on British soil.
Tens of thousands of people, including democracy activists wanted by Chinese authorities, have moved to Britain since Hong Kong enacted a draconian national security law in mid-2020.
Sentencing Yuen and Wai at London’s Old Bailey court, Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said their actions had been “deliberate, concerted and serious.”
They had caused “real and significant” harm, leaving those targeted in fear and distress, the judge said.
Both men were convicted in May of assisting a foreign intelligence service under national security laws following a two-month trial.
Wai, who worked for the U.K.’s Border Force immigration and customs enforcement agency after previously serving in the British police and the Royal Navy, was also convicted of misconduct in a public office.
He had searched the interior ministry’s computer system for people of interest to the Hong Kong authorities, prosecutors said.
The jury was also told how Wai gathered intelligence on the orders of Yuen, who was a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office, which represents Hong Kong’s government in London.
The Hong Kong government Thursday denied what it called “unfounded allegations and smearing” and said the accusations were “absolutely unrelated to the HKSAR Government, London ETO and its duties.”
“The U.K. side initiated the case on groundless accusations, abused law and manipulated judicial procedures to secure conviction,” it said in a statement.
‘Hold China to account’
The court heard the pair targeted Hong Kong dissidents and pro-democracy protesters living in Britain, with “special attention” also paid to politicians, including Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the opposition Conservative party.
They carried out information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception, with one operation capturing photographs of prominent campaigner Nathan Law.
Their activities coincided with Hong Kong authorities publishing bounties of around 100,000 pounds ($132,000) for information helping to identify several U.K.-based activists, including Law.
The sweeping Hong Kong National Security Law, which severely curtailed freedoms in the former British colony, contributed to years of strained ties, which soured further as London and Beijing exchanged accusations of spying.
Britain’s current Labour government has sought to reset relations, but faced domestic opposition from some quarters, in particular after it approved contentious plans for a new Chinese mega-embassy in London.
Security Minister Angela Eagle said the sentences sent a clear message that the U.K. would not “tolerate anyone breaking our laws and compromising our security to assist a foreign state.”
“We will continue to hold China to account and take action against anything that puts the safety of people in our country at risk,” she said in a statement.
This included the Hong Kong Police Force’s use of arrest warrants and bounties, “which encourage illegal behaviour on U.K. soil,” she added.
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By Agence France-Presse
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