In a London courtroom, Britain crossed a threshold it had never crossed before — convicting two men, one a border official with access to the machinery of the state, the other a trade envoy operating from within the city itself, of spying for China. Their targets were the exiled and the outspoken: activists who had fled Hong Kong carrying the memory of a freer place, and the British politicians who had stood beside them. The case arrived not through the work of spies catching spies, but through a fraud investigation that pulled a thread until an entire shadow network came loose. What emerged w
Two men convicted in historic UK spying case for China
A third defendant, former Royal Marine Matthew Trickett, was found dead in a park near his home after being bailed; he had expressed suicidal ideation to custody officers.
They referred to activists as cockroaches—stripping away any pretense of governance
Mark
What made this case historic? There must have been suspicions of Chinese espionage before.
Mimi
There had been. But this is the first time anyone in Britain was actually convicted in court of spying for China. That's the threshold—not suspicion, not expulsion, but a jury verdict.
Mark
How did a Border Force officer get access to the people he was targeting?
Mimi
He didn't need to hunt them down. He worked at Heathrow, so he had visibility into travel patterns. He was also a special constable, which gave him access to databases. He could search records, see who was moving, who was arriving. He was embedded in the system.
Mark
The messages called activists "cockroaches." That's a specific kind of language.
Mimi
It's dehumanizing. It's the language you use when you've already decided someone isn't worth protecting. It suggests this wasn't just intelligence gathering—it was part of a larger campaign to delegitimize and isolate these people.
Mark
Why did the operation fall apart over a fraud case?
Mimi
Because Wai and Trickett were sent to retrieve someone who had stolen millions. That was a criminal matter, not a state secret. Police were already watching. When they tried to break into the flat, they walked straight into an arrest.
Mark
What about Trickett, the third defendant?
Mimi
He was a Home Office immigration officer, so he had access too. But after his arrest, he told police he would kill himself when released. They asked the court to keep him in custody for his own protection. The court didn't. He was found dead in a park a week later.
Mark
Does that change how people understand the case?
Mimi
It complicates it. The convictions are clear. But there's a human cost that extends beyond the courtroom. Trickett's death raises questions about duty of care, about what happens when someone signals they're in crisis and the system doesn't hold them.
The Pulse
- For the first time in British legal history, two men have been convicted of spying for China — a verdict that signals the state is no longer willing to treat foreign surveillance operations on its soil as a diplomatic inconvenience.
- The network had embedded itself deep: a Border Force officer at Heathrow with access to Home Office databases, a trade official directing operations from a government-linked office in London, and encrypted messages in which pro-democracy activists were called 'cockroaches.'
- The operation's exposure came not from counterintelligence but from chaos — a fraud case, a woman hiding in a Yorkshire flat, and two men posing as electricians and then pretending a pipe had burst to force their way inside.
- A third defendant, Matthew Trickett, never faced a verdict — he was found dead in a park near his home after being released on bail, having already told custody officers he was thinking of taking his own life.
- Britain has summoned the Chinese Ambassador and vowed zero tolerance for foreign state interference; China has dismissed the entire trial as a political fabrication designed to shield anti-Beijing agitators.
In a London courtroom, Britain crossed a threshold it had never crossed before — convicting two men, one a border official with access to the machinery of the state, the other a trade envoy operating from within the city itself, of spying for China. Their targets were the exiled and the outspoken: activists who had fled Hong Kong carrying the memory of a freer place, and the British politicians who had stood beside them. The case arrived not through the work of spies catching spies, but through a fraud investigation that pulled a thread until an entire shadow network came loose. What emerged was a portrait of how authoritarian reach does not stop at borders — it follows people into exile, into new lives, into the countries that gave them shelter.
At the Old Bailey, a jury delivered a verdict that rewrote a small but significant piece of British legal history. Chi Leung Wai, a Border Force officer at Heathrow, and Chung Biu Yuen, a trade official at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in London, became the first people ever convicted in Britain of spying for China. Both held dual citizenship. After nearly 24 hours of deliberation, the jury found them guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service. Wai was also convicted of misconduct in public office for conducting unauthorized searches of Home Office records — searches made possible by a position that gave him access to one of Europe's busiest transit points and, through his role as a special constable, to official police systems.
The targets of their surveillance were the voices Beijing most wanted silenced. Nathan Law, the exiled student protest leader with a £100,000 bounty on his head, was subjected to multiple operations. British politicians — among them Iain Duncan Smith and Helena Kennedy — were also monitored. Wai infiltrated pro-democracy groups posing as a sympathizer, feeding intelligence back to Yuen. In their encrypted exchanges, they referred to activists as 'cockroaches.' The prosecution presented this language to the jury as evidence of the operation's true character.
The network unraveled not through espionage tradecraft but through a fraud case. A personal assistant named Monica Kwong had fled Hong Kong in 2023 and was hiding in a flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. On May 1, 2024, Wai and a third defendant — Matthew Trickett, a Home Office immigration officer and former Royal Marine — arrived at her address with two former Hong Kong police officers. They tried posing as electricians. When that failed, Trickett poured water on the floor to fake a burst pipe. Police who had been watching the group were already waiting.
The trial ran for nine weeks. Wai had offered an elaborate alternative account — the chat group was a social forum, his contact with Yuen was innocent, his lion dancing troupe had performed at Downing Street. The jury, by majority, rejected it. Separate charges under the National Security Act were not retried after jurors deadlocked. Sentencing was deferred.
The case carried a grief that extended beyond the verdicts. Trickett had told custody officers after his arrest that he was thinking of ending his life. Prosecutors asked the court to keep him in custody for his own safety. He was bailed instead. A week later, he was found dead in a park near his home in Maidenhead.
The British government moved quickly to frame the convictions as a demonstration of resolve, summoning the Chinese Ambassador and vowing that foreign state interference would not be tolerated. China's embassy called the proceedings a political performance. The exchange revealed how far the fracture between London and Beijing had spread — not only into diplomatic channels, but into the everyday institutions of British public life.
At the Old Bailey in London, a jury delivered verdicts that marked a watershed moment in British legal history. Chi Leung Wai, a 38-year-old Border Force officer stationed at Heathrow, and Chung Biu Yuen, a 65-year-old trade official working from the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in the capital, were found guilty of assisting a foreign intelligence service. They became the first people ever convicted in Britain of spying for China.
Wai's position gave him access to databases and movement across one of Europe's busiest airports. He also volunteered as a special constable for the City of London police, a role that deepened his reach into official systems. The court found he had conducted unauthorized searches of Home Office records and was convicted of misconduct in public office alongside the espionage charges. Yuen, his superior in the operation, had directed the surveillance from his desk at what prosecutors described as an extension of the Hong Kong government on British soil. Both men held dual Chinese and British citizenship. When the verdicts came down after jurors deliberated for nearly 24 hours, Yuen looked away while Wai stared ahead, his expression unreadable.
The targets of their surveillance read like a roster of Beijing's most wanted voices. Nathan Law, who had led Hong Kong's student protest movement and now lived in exile, was subjected to multiple operations. A £100,000 bounty had been placed on his head by Chinese authorities. The two men also gathered intelligence on British politicians, including the former Conservative cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith and the Labour peer Helena Kennedy. Wai infiltrated pro-democracy groups, posing as a sympathizer while reporting back to Yuen. In their encrypted messages, the prosecution showed the jury, they referred to activists as "cockroaches"—a dehumanizing language that stripped away any pretense of legitimate governance.
The operation unraveled not through counterintelligence work but through a criminal investigation into fraud. Monica Kwong, a personal assistant, had fled Hong Kong in 2023 after being accused of stealing £16 million from her employer, Tina Zhou. When Kwong sought refuge in a flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, the network moved to retrieve her. On May 1, 2024, Wai and a third defendant—Matthew Trickett, a serving Home Office immigration officer and former Royal Marine—arrived at her address alongside Zhou and two former Hong Kong police officers. They attempted to trick their way inside by posing as electricians. When that failed, Trickett poured bottled water on the floor to simulate a burst pipe. Police who had been monitoring the group were waiting. They moved in and made arrests as the men broke into the flat.
Wai had constructed an elaborate cover story. Known to associates as Fatboy, he claimed his naval background—he had joined the Royal Navy as a teenager, served with the Royal Marines, and worked in naval police—was simply his life experience. He said the chat group where he shared intelligence was merely a forum for discussing life in Britain, run by his instructor in lion dancing, a traditional Chinese martial art. His troupe had even performed at 10 Downing Street. But the messages between him and Yuen told a different story. They discussed targeting plans with clinical precision. The jury, by majority verdict, rejected his account.
The trial lasted nine weeks. When jurors could not reach consensus on separate charges of foreign interference under the National Security Act, prosecutors declined to retry those counts. Sentencing was set for a future date. But the case carried a shadow that extended beyond the courtroom. Matthew Trickett, the third defendant, had expressed suicidal thoughts to custody officers after his arrest. Prosecutors had asked the court to remand him in custody for his own protection. He was released on bail. A week later, he was found dead in a park near his home in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
The British government responded swiftly. Home Office minister Dan Jarvis issued a statement framing the convictions as proof of the nation's resolve. The Foreign Office announced it would summon the Chinese Ambassador to lodge a formal protest. Officials vowed that such activity would never be tolerated on British soil and that the convictions demonstrated the strength of the legal tools available to defend against hostile state action. China's embassy rejected the entire proceeding as a political maneuver designed to embolden anti-China elements hiding in the UK and destabilizing Hong Kong. The exchange laid bare the deepening mistrust between London and Beijing, with the surveillance operation serving as evidence of how far that tension had extended into the everyday machinery of British institutions.
Notable Quotes
The activities carried out by these men, on behalf of China, are an infringement of our sovereignty and will never be tolerated.— Home Office minister Dan Jarvis
This is nothing but a political move of abusing the law and manipulating the judicial process by the UK side.— Chinese embassy spokesperson
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