A UK immigration officer has been convicted of working with Chinese intelligence on a covert surveillance operation against Hong Kong dissidents in Britain. The case exposed serious national security breaches, misuse of government databases, and co-operation with former Hong Kong police officers, and brought to light the threats faced by exiled activists and the expanding reach of Chinese intelligence abroad.
The Convictions
Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 38, was found guilty under the National Security Act of assisting a foreign intelligence service. He was also convicted of misconduct in public office. Chung Biu “Bill” Yuen, 65, was found guilty of assisting Chinese intelligence and both men were accused of operating a shadow policing network in the UK.
The jury failed to reach a verdict on a charge of foreign interference relating to a break-in to a Hong Kong woman’s home in West Yorkshire. Prosecutors said they would not seek a retrial.
Wai’s Role and Access
Wai joined the UK Border Force at Heathrow Airport in December 2020. His role gave him access to the Atlas immigration database, which contains the personal details of all foreigners residing in Britain. He used his position to track the movements of Hong Kong dissidents, typically working while off duty or on sick leave.
Texts revealed Wai referred to activists as “cockroaches” when talking to his contacts and was paid for the information he provided. It appeared to be effectively no oversight on the searches he conducted of the sensitive database.
Yuen’s Background and Connections
Yuen was a former Hong Kong police officer who moved to London in 2015. He joined his family and began working at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) to help promote trade in October 2016. Since 2019, the Hong Kong office had become politicised, and the Hong Kong authorities were stepping up their efforts to monitor dissidents who had fled Britain.
Yuen provided the link to Chinese authorities for Wai, who became known as “the cockroach collector” after he started feeding him details about dissidents’ whereabouts. By autumn 2021, Wai had started feeding him details about the movements of Hong Kong dissidents in Britain on a daily basis. The two men had first met in 2017 after being introduced by a Chinese contact in London’s Chinatown with close ties to the pro-Beijing camp.
Recruitment of Colleagues
The network set up by Wai and Yuen also included another Border Force officer, Matthew Trickett. Trickett, a former Royal Marine, joined the intelligence group, carrying out monitoring and providing information from databases, in return for financial inducements.Trickett is suspected of suicide.
In 2019 he supplemented his Border Force salary with private work helping to monitor activists on behalf of D5 Security, the security company he ran from a Soho address. The same year, Trickett received more than £30,000 from a third source, identified in court documents as part of the international operation. Trickett was found dead in Grenfell Park, Maidenhead, in May, with police treating it as a suspected suicide.
Wai’s Career History
Before becoming a Border Force officer in December 2020, Wai had a varied career in uniform and in security. After serving eight years in the Royal Navy, Wai spent three years as a police officer in the Met and a further year in the City of London police. He also founded his own security company called D5 Security and ran an events company in Chinatown.
The dual citizen, fluent in both Cantonese and English, travelled with ease between communities.
Surveillance of Dissidents
The targets of the surveillance operation included some of the most high-profile Hong Kong democracy activists who had been driven from the territory after protests erupted there in 2019. In August, John Lee Ka-chiu, Hong Kong’s chief executive, placed bounties of HK$1 million (£100,000) on 11 overseas critics, including several in Britain, saying they would be hunted “for life.” Among those identified as suspects were Nathan Law, one of the most prominent democracy leaders, and Finn Lau. Wai tasked Trickett with the job of following Law on a visit he made to the Oxford Union in November.lau, a prominent democracy advocate who had previously been attacked in London, described his experience and expressed concerns over continuing threats.
Operation Against Monica Kwong
In February 2024, the attention of Wai and Yuen turned to Monica Kwong, a businesswoman accused of fraud in Hong Kong. Using his access to the immigration database, Wai confirmed Kwong’s address in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Wai arranged for a package to be delivered to her door, confirming her presence at the address in West Yorkshire, and began a covert surveillance operation outside her house. Tina Zou, another woman named in documents in Hong Kong as owing Kwong money, traveled with former Hong Kong officers from Hong Kong.
Kwong was at home with her young son and the officers tried to burst through her door, using a camera under the door, which slipped under and left water trickling into the property, simulating a flood and attempting to encourage the occupants to flee. When police arrived Wai dropped a fake ID card outside the window, attempting to pass himself off as a superintendent in the City of London Police.
The trial unfolded amidst similar investigations internationally into Chinese operations such as ‘Operation Fox Hunt’ and ‘Operation Sky Net’, used to trace wanted individuals. Critics accused the campaigns of intimidation against dissidents and of silence. The case demonstrated how China could target people and use individuals with access to sensitive government information. It also exposed the vulnerability of exiles who remained under threat.
Security Service Involvement
By February 2024, MI5 had become aware of the spying ring. They had begun collecting evidence of their operations, leading to their arrest and the conviction of both officers. The case revealed the effectiveness of intelligence agencies working with police to prevent such crimes and protect vulnerable people, and questioned why the operation remained undetected for so long.
Both Wai and Yuen should serve as a strong warning to any nation against the dangers that foreign intelligence agencies represent and against their capability to breach the highest levels of national security. It is easy to see how extensive the espionage ring was once we see the highest levels of the Home Office were penetrated and the enormous difficulties facing the nation, of both stopping their own citizens from being degraded and from an erosion of their institutions, while simultaneously having freedom of expression for vulnerable citizens at home. What Mr Trickett’s death means is that the world may never know what actually happened.
