Border Force officer and Hong Kong trade official jailed for spying for China

Peter Wai, who carried out surveillance on dissidents, was criticised by the judge for his ‘sense of entitlement’. Photograph: Lucy North/PA View image in fullscreen Peter Wai, who carried out surveillance on dissidents, was criticised by the judge for his ‘sense of entitlement’. Photograph: Lucy North/PA Border Force officer and Hong Kong trade official jailed for spying for China Peter Wai and Bill Yuen sentenced to 10 and eight years at Old Bailey in first convictions under National Security Act A UK Border Force officer and a Hong Kong trade official based in London have been jailed for spying for China in what is the first such conviction in British criminal history. Peter Wai, who conducted “shadow policing” operations on Chinese dissidents in the UK, was sentenced to 10 years while his handler, Bill Yuen, received an eight-year term. After a two-month trial at the Old Bailey, the pair were convicted under the National Security Act of assisting a foreign intelligence service. Wai, 41, a Border Force officer at Heathrow airport who previously served in the Metropolitan police and as a special constable in the City of London police, was also convicted of misconduct in a public office over his use of a Home Office computer system to acquire details about his targets. The jury heard that Yuen, 66, a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, had taken over the handling of Wai shortly after they met in 2021 to conduct surveillance on dissidents. In a televised sentencing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said the defendants’ actions were “deliberate, concerted and serious”. They had caused “real and significant” harm, leaving those targeted in fear and distress, the judge said. She described Wai’s attitude towards his misconduct as “arrogant”, saying he had a “sense of entitlement” to do as he pleased. The case is one of the first to be prosecuted under the National Security Act. View image in fullscreen Bill Yuen, left, was the handler of Wai, right. Photograph: CPS/PA In her sentencing remarks, Cheema-Grubb said: “The offence of which you have been convicted is a grave one. Parliament has enacted the National Security Act in response to the growing reality that the UK now faces persistent, active and often clandestine interference by foreign state actors. “Modern foreign intelligence activity is not confined to orthodox espionage and may take the form of surveillance and information gathering about dissidents. Conduct of this kind threatens not only the individual victims but the sovereignty of the state and public confidence in institutions and the safety that this jurisdiction must afford to those lawfully present here.” She said that she had “no doubt” that the two men’s criminal activities contributed to the “fear, insecurity and distress for those targeted”. The Chinese embassy has said the case was an abuse of law designed to embolden anti-China elements “bent on destabilising Hong Kong”. The judge told the court she was unable t