The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office official (and former police officer) and security officer accused of housebreaking and illegal surveillance will go on trial on February 10. A third person who had also been detained was found dead under mysterious circumstances. More than 200,000 citizens of the former colony have taken refuge in Britain in recent years. A diplomatic confrontation is anticipated over the activities carried out in the “commercial” offices.
London (/Agencies) – Bill Yuen and Peter Wai, the two people linked to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London, who were arrested a few weeks ago, accused of espionage and surveillance against the thousands of exiles who found refuge in the British capital after the repression of the 2019 protests. This was decided today in London by the judge before whom they appeared under the local national security law, confirming meanwhile the bail. A third person was also arrested along with them, the British Matthew Trickett, who was found dead in a park on Sunday, May 19, under unclear circumstances, a few days after his release.
The whole matter is becoming an international diplomatic case because the focus of public attention has been concentrated on the HKETO network, 14 representative offices in various countries around the world that promote the economic activities of the Chinese metropolis, but that Human rights activists accuse them of harboring – protected by the guarantees offered by diplomatic immunity – espionage and intimidation activities against Hong Kong exiles. This is an especially hot topic in London, which opened its doors to all Hong Kongers in possession of a British passport after the repression of the 2019 protests and welcomed more than 200,000 people to Britain from what was its colony until 1997. And precisely in recent days London has published data on visas granted to this category of citizens in the first 3 months of 2024 and these show that, with the approval of the new national security law in accordance with article 23 , departures from Hong Kong have begun to grow once again, resulting in 10,737 new admissions, a figure higher than the same period in 2023.
Yuen, Wai and Trickett were arrested in early May after they allegedly tried to break into the home of one of those Hong Kongers with a British passport living in London. They were also charged with “information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception with the capacity to materially collaborate with a foreign intelligence service” between December 20, 2023 and May 2, 2024.
Bill Yuen, 63, is a manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London and is also a retired Hong Kong police officer. He is accused of ordering Wai and Trickett to carry out the surveillance operation and search of the house. Peter Wai, 38, is a director of a UK-registered private security company, D5 Security Consultancy Limited, which also included Matthew Trickett, 37, the man found dead. According to some testimonies, he would have announced his intention to take his own life after his arrest, but there are still doubts about that reconstruction. And yesterday, from Hong Kong, the Secretary of Commerce and Economic Development Algernon Yau asked the British authorities for “the truth” about this death, in what constitutes the first position taken by China on the entire matter.
Meanwhile, in Great Britain, seven parliamentarians belonging to different political forces have expressly asked to review the diplomatic status and privileges guaranteed to the HKETO. “If in the trial it turned out that its officials were operating in the service of repression outside national borders, going beyond the legitimate tasks linked to the promotion of the economy and trade – they stated – the option of closing the office should also be considered. “.
Photo taken from Hong Kong Democracy Council profile
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