A Chinese spy ring has been convicted of running ‘shadow policing’ operations on British soil.
In an unprecedented case that goes to the heart of the civil service, UK Border Force officer Peter Wai and retired Hong Kong police officer Bill Yuen spied on Chinese dissidents living in the UK and senior MPs who supported them.
In a shocking breach of national security, Wai used his privileged access to Home Office databases to supply intelligence to Beijing.
The convictions are the first relating to Chinese espionage in British history.
But MPs warned last night that the case was ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ and must act as ‘a wake-up call’ to the Government over the threat posed by China.
It comes amid growing fears over Beijing’s escalating campaign of surveillance and intimidation in the UK.
While the verdict was hailed by some, Tory MP Alicia Kearns, a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, told the Daily Mail it ‘will mean nothing if this Government continues to appease Beijing’.
During a two-month trial at the Old Bailey, Wai, 40, and Yuen, 66 – both dual Chinese-British nationals – were said to be part of ‘determined measures’ by China to ‘reach beyond their jurisdiction’ and treat Britain as if it were its own backyard.
Peter Wai arriving at the Old Bailey, where he has been found guilty of running a Chinese ‘state intelligence service’ on British soil while working as a UK Border Force officer
Wai was tasked with gathering intelligence for Hong Kong authorities by Bill Yuen (pictured)
Prosecutors told how the spy ring was part of Operation Fox Hunt, a notorious campaign aimed at forcefully returning individuals to China for persecution.
As well as working for the Border Force, Wai also volunteered as a City of London special constable while living in Staines, Surrey, the court heard.
He gathered intelligence on the orders of former Hong Kong superintendent Yuen, who was the office manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) in central London.
Targets included pro-democracy activist Nathan Law and senior Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
Wai may have been misusing police computer systems or databases as far back as 2018 to harvest names, addresses and other personal details, the Old Bailey heard.
For his part, Yuen used the Hong Kong trade office accounts to pay Wai almost £100,000 for his work, which he disbursed to a network of subcontractors.
The pair were arrested on May 1, 2024, after a botched attempt to hunt down a target, during which the shadowy unit were under the watch of MI5.
Duncan Atkinson KC, for the prosecution, said the defendants had carried out ‘shadow policing operations… acting as if they were entitled, in this country, to act as a law enforcement or state intelligence service, when no such entitlement existed’.
Both men denied the charges. But yesterday they were found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service by a majority of ten to two.
Wai was also found guilty of misconduct in public office.
However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on whether the pair also engaged in foreign interference, a separate offence under the National Security Act.
Prosecutors said they would not seek a retrial. The pair will be sentenced at a later date.
How should the UK respond to foreign governments spying on dissidents and MPs on its own soil?
Yuen, 65, (left) and Wai, 40, (right) were convicted under the National Security Act 2023 following a trial at the Old Bailey
Pictured: Wai taking part in the New Years parade in London in January 2022
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Following the verdict, Bethan David, head of counter-terrorism at the Crown Prosecution Service, said the convictions sent ‘a clear message that transnational repression, foreign interference, unauthorised surveillance, and attempts to operate outside the law will not be tolerated on British soil’.
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of pandering to China after his government approved plans for a new mega embassy on the site of the former Royal Mint close to the Tower of London.
The Prime Minister was also criticised when charges were dropped last year against a parliamentary researcher and an academic who had been accused of spying for China. Both had denied the charges.
Sir Iain said yesterday’s convictions were ‘merely the tip of the iceberg’ of Chinese espionage and warned that ‘dissidents will be under even greater threat’ if the mega embassy is built.
He added: ‘The targeting of Chinese dissidents is a perpetual problem, but the Government does nothing about it.
‘This should be a wake-up call to the Government if ever one was needed.’
Dr John Hemmings, director of the National Security Centre at The Henry Jackson Society, said the case ‘further underlines the need to reassess Britain’s approach to Beijing’s operations on British soil’, and called on the Government to add China to its list of countries deemed a high security threat, alongside Russia and Iran – a step it has so far failed to take.
Security minister Dan Jarvis said he would summon the Chinese ambassador ‘to make it clear activity like this was, and will always be, unacceptable on UK soil’.
