UK police charge three men with helping Hong Kong's foreign intelligence service

British police said on Monday three men had been charged with assisting the foreign intelligence service of Hong Kong after officers made a series of arrests across England.

Peter Wai Chi-leung, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Yuen Chung-biu, 63, appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Monday. They spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and address.

They have been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and with foreign interference.

Police allege that between Dec. 20 and May 2, Yuen, Wai and Trickett agreed to engage in information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception that were likely to materially assist the Hong Kong intelligence service.

The charges include allegations that the men broke into a residence on May 1.

They were not asked to enter any pleas to the charges and they will next appear in court at the Old Bailey on May 24.

All three men were granted bail.

One of the defendants, Yuen, shared the same name as an officer manager from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. The other two were said to be the owners of two private security firms.

"The foreign intelligence service to which the above charges relate is that of Hong Kong," a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said.

Authorities do not believe there to be a wider threat to the public.

"A number of arrests were made and searches carried out across England as part of this investigation," said Dominic Murphy, Head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

A total of 11 people were detained under section 27 of the National Security Act as part of the investigation, with seven men and one woman were released from custody on or before last Friday (May 10).

The arrests were made in London and the Yorkshire area, according to local reports. The arrests in the current case were made on May 1 and 2.

"This investigation remains ongoing, but now that charges have been brought, I urge people not to speculate or comment further in relation to this case," said Murphy.

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prepares to deliver a speech in which he is expected to say that Britain is facing an increasingly dangerous future due to threats from an “axis of authoritarian states,” including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

Tensions between China and U.K. flared last year after a parliamentary researcher was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing, charges that Chinese officials called a “malicious smear.”

The British government last year passed a new national security act that gave police additional powers to tackle foreign espionage. The legislation was needed to combat the “ever-evolving” threat of foreign interference and in “response to the threat of hostile activity from states targeting the U.K.’s democracy, economy, and values,” the government said.

(Staff reporter, Reuters and AP)
(Updated at 10.18 pm)

Read more: HK govt demands UK 'fairly handle' case of three charged with assisting intel service