Two Men Found Guilty of Assisting Chinese Intelligence Service in UK Court

Two men have been found guilty at the Old Bailey of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act. Chi Leung "Peter" Wai, 38, a former Border Force officer, and Chung Biu "Bill" Yuen, 65, a retired Hong Kong police superintendent, were convicted following a trial in which the jury deliberated for more than 23 hours.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on a separate charge of foreign interference linked to an attempted forced entry at a home in Pontefract, West Yorkshire; prosecutors said they would not seek a retrial on that count. Wai was also convicted of misconduct in public office.

According to the court, Wai began providing information on Hong Kong dissidents before he joined the Border Force at Heathrow Airport in December 2020. He accessed the main immigration database on days off and while sick. Yuen, who had moved to London shortly after retiring from the Hong Kong police in 2015, became his handler by mid-2021.

The pair were introduced in 2017 at a Chinatown restaurant in London. Yuen worked as office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, which the court heard had become increasingly politicised after the 2019 protests in Hong Kong.

The activities came to light on 1 May 2024 when counter-terrorism police disrupted an operation to locate Monica Kwong, a former Hong Kong resident accused of involvement in a £16 million fraud. Using the immigration database, Wai located her flat in Pontefract.

Police had bugged the flat in advance. Officers arrested 11 people at the scene. Wai discarded a fake warrant card identifying him as a City of London Police superintendent. A man named Trickett, who had been drawn into the surveillance activities, was later found dead in woodland near Maidenhead in an apparent suicide.

Wai had previously served in the Royal Navy, worked as a Metropolitan Police officer from 2015 to 2019, and volunteered as a City of London Police special constable. He ran a private security firm called D5 Security and was an instructor in Chinese lion dancing.

Yuen told jurors he believed Wai was a high-ranking police officer when he hired the firm to protect the trade office from protesters. The court heard that targets included pro-democracy activists with HK$1 million bounties on their heads placed by Hong Kong's chief executive in 2023.

Special attention was paid to British politicians, including former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith. High-profile dissidents such as Nathan Law and Finn Lau were followed.

Following the convictions, the Foreign Office summoned Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang. " Sentencing is scheduled for 15 May. The operation formed part of broader Chinese efforts including "Operation Fox Hunt" and "Operation Sky Net" to pursue fugitives.

The court heard Wai sent intelligence to former Hong Kong police contacts who retained links to Chinese authorities.

Wai denied the charges, saying a chat group used to share information was linked to a lion dancing company and that a fake police card was only to impress friends. Yuen said his role at the trade office involved building security and that he hired Wai's firm believing him to be a legitimate senior officer.