China’s ambassador summoned by UK after men charged with ‘spying for Hong Kong’

China has offered overseas rewards of around £100,000 ($190,157) for information leading to the arrests of five pro-democracy activists including Simon Cheng, a former UK consulate employee who was granted asylum in London in 2020.

Following the meeting, the Chinese embassy hit back saying Ambassador Zheng had in turn made “further serious representations” to the UK on its “wrongful behaviour” including its “unwarranted accusation against the (Hong Kong) government”.

“He was unequivocal that the UK must stop anti-China political manoeuvring and not go further down the dangerous path of jeopardising China-UK relations,” the statement said.

On Monday, a Heathrow Border Force officer appeared in court alongside a Hong Kong trade official and a former member of the British military charged with spying on pro-democracy activists in Britain and forcing their way into a residential address.

Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, and Matthew Trickett, 37, are accused of agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception that were likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service between December 20 last year May 2.

All three also allegedly engaged in “foreign interference” which involved “forcing entry into a UK residential address” on May 1. Both charges were brought under the National Security Act. They were granted bail and will appear at the Old Bailey on May 24.

Loading

Hong Kong has called on UK officials to provide “full details” of the charges. China, under which Hong Kong operates as a special administrative region, has also refuted the allegations that the city’s intelligence service was involved.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told parliament last week that the attack had been carried out by a “malign actor”. He did not confirm who was behind it, but several media outlets have reported that Beijing was the culprit.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak this week said the UK faced ongoing threats from “an axis of authoritarian states like Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China”.

Beijing officials have also repeatedly denied the British accusations, calling them “groundless and slanderous” in what has become a tit-for-tat series of allegations and denials.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.