UK Immigration Officer Chi Leung Wai Guilty of Chinese Intelligence Work, Tracking Dissidents
Chi Leung "Peter" Wai, 38, a British immigration officer, has been found guilty of working for Chinese intelligence, utilising his position to monitor Hong Kong dissidents residing in the UK. Wai's conviction under the National Security Act for assisting a foreign intelligence service was made alongside Chung Biu "Bill" Yuen, 65, who acted as a key contact with Hong Kong authorities. Wai also faced a separate conviction for misconduct in public office.
The prosecution's assertion of foreign interference, stemming from an alleged forced entry into a Hong Kong national's home in West Yorkshire, did not secure a unanimous jury decision against both men, and a retrial will not be sought.
Wai, who commenced his role as a Border Force officer at Heathrow Airport in December 2020, exploited his access to a vast database of foreign nationals. Court proceedings revealed he conducted searches on his days off and sick days, receiving remuneration for tracking Hong Kongers who had sought refuge in the UK following pro-democracy crackdowns. He had been providing intelligence on dissidents, referring to them as "cockroaches" in communications, prior to his Border Force employment. Yuen, a former Hong Kong police officer who managed the London office of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO), became Wai's direct liaison with Chinese authorities by mid-2021.
The court also heard that Wai implicated another Border Force officer, Matthew Trickett, an ex-Royal Marine, in his surveillance activities against Hong Kong dissidents. Trickett was subsequently discovered deceased in a suspected suicide shortly after counter-terrorism police apprehended the group. Wai's past roles include serving in the Metropolitan Police from 2015 to 2019, eight years in the Royal Navy, and working for a security company in Chinatown, in addition to establishing his own firm, D5 Security. After leaving the Met, he volunteered as a constable for the City of London Police.
