Men jailed for spying for Chinese intelligence in UK

Men jailed for spying for Chinese intelligence in UK 36 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Greg McKenzie , Old Bailey , Daniel Sandford , UK correspondent and Ella Kipling Metropolitan Police Chi Leung "Peter" Wai and Chung Biu "Bill" Yuen were found guilty on Thursday after a trial at the Old Bailey A Border Force officer and his "handler" have been jailed over their work for Chinese intelligence in the UK. Chi Leung "Peter" Wai, 40, was sentenced to 10 years and Chung Biu "Bill" Yuen, 65, given an eight year term after being found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service, an offence under the National Security Act. Wai, who used his position to access the Home Office computer system to track Hong Kong dissidents in the UK, was also convicted of misconduct in public office. The judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told the men that their actions "threaten the sovereignty of the state" during sentencing remarks at the Old Bailey on Thursday. The dual Chinese-British nationals were found guilty after a trial last month. They were involved in what detectives described as a "shadow policing operation... conducted on behalf of the Hong Kong authorities, and by extension, the Chinese state". Wai was a former UK police officer who began working as a Border Force officer at Heathrow Airport in December 2020. He used his access to a vast database of information about foreign nationals in the UK to trace Hong Kongers who had fled pro-democracy crackdowns for his Chinese contacts. He was sentenced to six years for assisting a foreign intelligence service and an additional four years for misconduct in public office. Yuen, a former Hong Kong police officer who went on to work as the office manager of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, became Wai's contact with Chinese authorities. Getty Images Chi Leung "Peter" Wai The case raised serious questions about foreign interference and the ability of hostile states to gather information on individuals living in Britain. Cdr Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said in a statement that the investigation shows this kind of activity in the UK will not be tolerated. "I want to be really clear that if you are working on behalf of a foreign state, that we in counter-terrorism policing and with our partners will identify who you are and bring the full force of the National Security Act upon you." Security Minister Angela Eagle said the government "will continue to hold China to account and take action against anything that puts the safety of people in our country at risk", including Hong Kong police's use of arrest warrants and bounties. A Hong Kong government spokesperson said the "relevant conviction involved unfounded allegations and smearing" and accused the UK side of initiating the case on "groundless accusations", adding it "abused law and manipulated judicial procedures to secure conviction". The spokesperson said the allegations in the case were unrelated t