兩名男子首次在英國史上被判為中國從事間諜活動（1/2）

 Recently The Guardian reported the following:

Two men first in British history to be found guilty of spying for China (1/2)

Chi Leung Wai and Chung Biu Yuen convicted over surveillance of dissidents in ‘shadow policing’ operation

The Guardian - Daniel Boffey, and Amy Hawkins in Beijing

Thu 7 May 2026 12.43 EDT

A UK Border Force officer and Hong Kong trade official based in London have been found guilty of spying for China and surveilling dissidents through a “shadow policing” operation.

Chi Leung “Peter” Wai, 38, and Chung Biu Yuen, 65, also known as Bill, were found guilty at the Old Bailey of assisting a foreign intelligence service, making them the first people in British history to be convicted of spying for China.

Wai, who worked for Border Force at Heathrow airport and volunteered as a City of London special constable, was also found guilty of misconduct in public office in relation to unauthorised searches of Home Office databases.

The two men, who had denied the charges, were found guilty by majority verdicts. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb will sentence the men, who are both dual Chinese and British nationals, at a later date.

Yuen, who was accused of giving Wai the targets to surveil, looked down as the verdict was heard. Wai stared ahead.

After 23 hours and 38 minutes of deliberation, jurors could not reach a verdict on charges against the men of foreign interference, a separate offence under the National Security Act. The prosecution said it would not seek a retrial.

A third accused man, 37-year-old former Royal Marine Matthew Trickett, who was charged under the National Security Act alongside Yuen and Wai in May 2024, was found dead in a park near his home in Maidenhead, Berkshire, a week after being bailed.

Prosecutors had asked the court to remand Trickett in custody for his own protection after he tried to take his own life in a police cell following his arrest. He told custody sergeants he would kill himself when he was released.

A nine-week trial heard that Wai gathered intelligence on the orders of Yuen, who was a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) in London, which was said to be an extension in the UK of the Hong Kong government.

The court heard that the targets included Nathan Law, an exiled politician who led the student protest movement in Hong Kong. Law was the subject of multiple spying operations and has had a £100,000 bounty put on his head by the Chinese authorities.

The jury was told that Wai infiltrated Hong Kong pro-democracy groups and sought to gather information on British politicians including the former Conservative cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith and the Labour peer Helena Kennedy.

(to be continued)

Translation

兩名男子首次在英國史上被判為中國從事間諜活動（1/2）

衛志樑和袁松彪因參與「影子警察」行動監視異議人士而被定罪

一名英國邊境部隊官員和一名常駐倫敦的香港貿易官員被判犯有為中國從事間諜活動並透過「影子警察」行動監視異見人士的罪行。

38歲的衛志樑（又稱 Peter）和65歲的袁松彪（又稱 Bill）在Old Bailey法院被判犯有協助外國情報機構的罪行，成為英國歷史上首批被判犯有為中國從事間諜活動罪的人。

曾在希斯路機場邊境部隊工作並擔任倫敦金融城特別警員的衛某，因擅自搜尋內政部資料庫而被判犯了公職人員行為不當罪。

兩名男子否認了所有指控，但最終被陪審團以多數票裁定有罪。法官Cheema-Grubb女仕將在稍後日期對這兩名擁有中英雙重國籍的男子進行量刑。

在宣判時，被控向衛某提供監視目標的袁某低下了頭。衛某則目視前方。

經過23小時38分鐘的審議，陪審團未能就兩名男子涉嫌干涉外國事務的指控達成一致意見，該指控是《國家安全法》下的另一項罪名。檢方表示不會尋求重審。

第三名被告，37歲的前皇家海軍陸戰隊員Matthew Trickett於2024年5月與袁和衛一同被控違反《國家安全法》。他在獲得保釋一週後，被發現死於伯克郡Maidenhead住所附近的一個公園。

Trickett被捕後曾在警局牢房內試圖自殺，檢控一方因此要求法庭將其拘留候審，以保護其人身安全。他曾告訴拘留他的警佐，稱他在不被拘留之時會自殺。

為期九週的庭審顯示，衛某奉袁某之命蒐集情報。袁某是香港駐倫敦經濟貿易辦事處（HKETO）的高級經理，該辦事處被認為是香港政府在英國的延伸機構。

法庭得悉，情報目標包括領導香港學生運動的流亡政治人物羅冠聰(Nathan Law)。羅冠聰曾多次遭到間諜活動監視，中國當局曾懸賞10萬英鎊捉拿他。

陪審團獲悉，衛某曾滲透香港民主派團體，試圖收集包括前保守黨內閣大臣 Iain Duncan Smith和工黨同僚Helena Kennedy在內的英國政界人士的情報。

（待續）