Britain jails 2 men for spying on Hong Kong dissidents
What's new: One defendant got 10 years after using his UK Border Force job to look up targets in a Home Office database.
A British court jailed two men on June 18 after convicting them of spying on pro-democracy dissidents from Hong Kong living in Britain on behalf of Hong Kong, and ultimately China. Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, 66, was sentenced to eight years and Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 41, got 10 years after an Old Bailey trial. Prosecutors said the pair carried out surveillance on targets between December 2023 and May 2024. Wai was also convicted of abusing his role at UK Border Force to search a Home Office database for information on those targets. Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Britain faces persistent covert interference by foreign state actors. Police called the operation “truly chilling.”