Hong Kong dissident Nathan Law on China spies in UK: We're not surprised'

"Nathan Law, an exiled leader of the Hong Kong student protest who lives with a 100,000 bounty on his head from the Chinese authorities, was not surprised to discover a spy ring had photographed him entering the Oxford Union for an evening debate in November 2023. The conviction at the Old Bailey of Chi Leung Peter Wai, 38, and Chung Biu Bill Yuen, 65, for assisting a foreign intelligence service, was a sobering first no Chinese spies had been convicted in British criminal history before Thursday but the details that came out in the nine-week trial mainly served to confirm his suspicions."

"Law, 32, was already aware he was a target and had taken his usual precautions before and after the debate, at which he had been arguing in favour of the case that China's rise was a risk. He was, as he always is, studious in checking who was around him. He was picked up in a car to get home. There is no public information that anything sensitive about my whereabouts has been compromised, he said of that day."

"It was also unsurprising to him that Yuen, the older of the two men convicted, who was said to have orchestrated the spying, worked as a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, central London. Chi Leung Wai (left) and Chung Biu Yuen, who have been found guilty of spying for China. Composite: Metropolitan police/Reuters As the official overseas representation of the Hong Kong government, the HKETO's role is to promote trade, investment and cultural ties."

"But every arm of the Hong Kong special administrative region back home had been politicised and used to enforce so-called national security since pro-democracy protests erupted across the territory in 2019, Law said. In Hong Kong national security' means like you disagree with the government, he said. And that extends to the role of HKETO; it is also used to punish people who disagree with the government. Having a new function, which is like doing espionage work, surveil"

Nathan Law, an exiled Hong Kong protest leader with a large bounty from Chinese authorities, was not surprised to learn a spy ring photographed him entering the Oxford Union in November 2023. He said he already knew he was a target and took precautions before and after the debate. At the Old Bailey, Chi Leung Peter Wai and Chung Biu Bill Yuen were convicted of assisting a foreign intelligence service, marking the first such conviction involving Chinese spies in British criminal history. Law noted that Yuen worked as a senior manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. He said the HKETO’s official role is to promote trade, investment, and cultural ties, but that Hong Kong national security enforcement has politicized government arms and expanded their use to punish dissent and conduct surveillance.

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