UK signals zero tolerance for foreign espionage with sentences in Hong Kong intelligence case

Hong Kong Watch welcomes today’s sentencing of Bill Yuen Chung-biu and Peter Wai Chi-leung at the Old Bailey, following their conviction last month under the United Kingdom’s National Security Act 2023 for assisting a foreign intelligence service.

Yuen was sentenced to 8 years’ imprisonment. Wai, who was also convicted of misconduct in a public office for misusing the UK Home Office immigration database to track pro-democracy activists and their families, was sentenced to 10 years.

During the sentencing, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb described their activities as “deliberate, concerted, and serious”. 

The sentences reflect the gravity of what took place, a coordinated campaign of surveillance and harassment against members of the Hong Kong diaspora, conducted on British soil, on behalf of a foreign authority.

This case has exposed how individuals used positions of public trust, including within the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) – a publicly funded body with diplomatic protections – to carry out transnational repression against Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who sought refuge in the UK. The evidence heard during this trial made clear this was not the conduct of isolated actors, but of individuals conducting a coordinated surveillance operation aligned with the objectives of a foreign power.

In response to these sentences, Hong Kong Watch urges the British government to:

  • Announce a comprehensive review of consular privileges and immunities granted to the HKETO in London;

  • Assess whether the continued operation of the HKETO in London is consistent with the UK’s national security interests; 

  • Include the People’s Republic of China in the enhanced tier of the UK’s Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS).

Hong Kong Watch’s Policy Director, Megan Khoo, said:

“Today’s sentencing marks the end of a legal process, but not the end of the threat. Transnational repression targeting Hong Kongers in Britain continues. We call on the UK government to match the resolve shown by the courts with urgent and decisive policy action.”

倫敦經貿辦案兩人各被叛囚8年和10年 香港監察促全面審查經貿辦特權、將中國納入「外國影響力登記計劃」進階級別

香港監察歡迎倫敦中央刑事法院今日對袁松彪（Bill Yuen）和衛志樑（Peter Wai）的判刑，兩人上月被裁定違反英國2023年《國家安全法》「協助外國情報機構」罪名成立。

袁松彪被判8年監禁。衛志樑同時因濫用英國內政部移民資料庫追蹤在英港人及其家人而被裁定「公職人員行為失當」罪成，被判10年監禁。

判刑期間，法官Cheema-Grubb形容兩人的行為「蓄意、經協商且嚴重」。

刑期反映事件的嚴重性，這是在英國境內，代表外國當局監視和騷擾海外港人的經協調行動。

這宗案件揭露了公職人員如何利用職權對在英國尋求庇護的香港社運人士施展跨國鎮壓，當中包括香港經濟貿易辦事處職員，而經貿辦是享有外交保護的公營機構。審訊期間聽取的證據清楚表明，這並非個別人士的行為，而是為配合外國勢力的目標而展開的經協調監視行動。

因應這些判刑，香港監察促請英國政府：

  • 宣布對香港駐倫敦經貿辦享有的領事特權和豁免權展開全面審查；

  • 評估香港駐倫敦經貿辦繼續運作是否符合英國國家安全利益；

  • 將中國納入英國「外國影響力登記計劃」進階級別。

香港監察政策總監Megan Khoo表示：

「今日的判刑標示法律程序完結，但並不代表威脅終結。針對在英港人的跨國鎮壓依然存在。我們呼籲英國政府配合法院所展現的決心，採取緊急果斷的政策行動。」

Photo: Gavin Allwood on Unsplash

NewsTom Bensontransnationalrepression, Hong Kong, HKETO