by Anouk Wear at The Hill
At the start of May, three men were arrested and charged in the United Kingdom for allegedly violating the UK’s 2023 National Security Act by assisting Hong Kong’s intelligence service and engaging in foreign interference on behalf of Hong Kong.
They are Bill Yuen, Peter Wai and Matthew Trickett, British and Hong Kong nationals aged 37-63. They are accused of surveillance, harassment and even attempting to break into a home of Hong Kong people who are settled in the UK under the BN(O) Visa Scheme, which has enabled more than 210,000 Hong Kongers to apply to move to the UK and start the path to British citizenship.
Bill Yuen was a manager at the London Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), which is Hong Kong’s representative office in the UK. He is accused of acting on behalf of the London HKETO in hiring Wai and Trickett to target Hong Kong pro-democracy activists in the UK. Bank records show transfers from the London HKETO to Wai’s security firm. Trickett was later found dead; the police state “[it] is currently being treated as unexplained. The case is ongoing.
There are 14 HKETOs around the world, representing Hong Kong with an annual budget of HK$601.5 million ($76.90 million USD) to engage in commercial relations, public relations and investment promotions. Many of them have diplomatic privileges and immunities, including three such offices in the U.S.
Under its high degree of autonomy,…
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