UK court jails 2 Hongkongers tied to trade office for up to 10 years for spying

Two men linked to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London found guilty of spying on activists were sentenced to up to 10 years in jail on Thursday.

Bill Yuen Chung-biu, 65, an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), was sentenced to eight years in prison for assisting a foreign intelligence service at the Old Bailey.

Co-defendant Peter Wai Chi-leung, 40, a security firm operator and former part-time UK Border Force officer, received a sentence of 10 years for the same charge and an additional one of misconduct in a public office.

The sentencing by Mrs Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb followed an intense morning of legal mitigation, during which defence lawyers pushed back against prosecution claims that the duo’s actions amounted to a “betrayal” of their adopted country.

Yuen, a retired police superintendent, was accused of passing surveillance requests from Hong Kong authorities to Wai while working at the trade office.