Two men spied on Hong Kong dissidents in UK for China, London court told

The joint China-UK nationals are accused of targeting Hong Kong dissidents. Read more at straitstimes.com.

LONDON - Two men went on trial in London on March 4, accused by British prosecutors of spying on well-known Hong Kong pro-democracy dissidents based in the United Kingdom on behalf of the city’s authorities and, ultimately, China.

Hong Kong was under British rule for 156 years before reverting to Chinese sovereignty in 1997, and there have been growing tensions between the two nations over a sweeping national security crackdown since sometimes violent pro-democracy protests swept the territory in 2019.

Yuen Chung Biu, 65, and Wai Chi Leung, 38, both dual Chinese and British nationals, deny charges of assisting a foreign intelligence service between December 2023 and May 2024 and conducting “foreign interference” by forcing entry into a residential address on May 1.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told London’s Old Bailey court the two men had been tasked to carry out “shadow policing operations on behalf of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and thereby the People’s Republic of China”.

Mr Atkinson said this included targeting dissidents now resident in Britain for whom the Hong Kong government had issued bounties of HK$1 million (S$163,000), for information leading to their whereabouts or 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,” he said.