A City of London Police special constable accused of spying for China threatened to arrest a protester who confronted a Hong Kong official, a court has heard.
Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, who also worked for UK Border Force, allegedly carried out surveillance and took photographs of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists, who were referred to as “cockroaches”.
Retired Hong Kong police superintendent Chung Biu (Bill) Yuen, 65, is alleged to have tasked Wai and former Royal Marine Matthew Trickett to carry out “shadow policing operations” while working for the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in the UK.
Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, and Yuen, of Hackney in east London, are on trial accused of breaching the National Security Act by assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service.
The Old Bailey has heard Hong Kong authorities, and thereby China, instructed them to gather intelligence on exiles targeted with £100,000 bounties over their alleged links to pro-democracy protests, including activist Nathan Law.
Giving evidence, a student – who had been involved in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong before coming to the UK in late 2020 – told how he been at some of the same protests with Mr Law.
The man, who has been granted anonymity and is known only as Y during the trial, said he went to Guildhall in the City to confront Hong Kong official Christopher Hui on 17 April 2023.
He told the jury he called out “shame on you” to Mr Hui as he left the building before getting into his car along with his security guards.
Y said Wai came up to him, adding: “He put his hand in his pocket, pulled out a wallet and in the wallet was a police badge from the City of London Police.
“He told me I had to leave the area otherwise he would arrest me for public disorder.”
Y said he left because he “didn’t want to get into trouble” and saw Wai in the car with Mr Hui a few blocks away.
The jury was previously told Wai had no official policing role at the Guildhall that day.
Y said he saw Wai again when he was protesting outside a Chinese New Year event at the banqueting hall in Whitehall, which was attended by political figures connected with Hong Kong and China.
He said he didn’t remember when asked by Jonathan Caplan KC, representing Yuen, whether he was present at a protest at the HKETO in London when the building was vandalised by red paint and fireworks.
Jurors were also shown a video of the Guildhall protest, where someone could be heard shouting out Yuen’s name through a megaphone, and saying: “The police is corrupt, your family die with them.”
Others protesters could be seen throwing “ghost money” – paper given to the dead at funerals – at Mr Hui’s car, the court heard.
Aftab Jafferjee KC, representing Wai, suggested Y shouted “your whole family die” at Mr Hui before his client told him: “Stop what you’re doing. You could be arrested.”
He said Wai only produced his warrant card after Y told him: “It’s a public place, I can do what I want, you’re nobody, this is my freedom.”
Y said: “I don’t remember saying those other things.”
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Wai and Yuen, who are dual Chinese and British nationals, deny assisting a foreign intelligence service between 20 December 2023 and 2 May 2024. It is alleged they agreed to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception.
They also deny a second charge of foreign interference on 1 May 2024 by forcing entry into the Pontefract flat of Monica Kwong, who left Hong Kong in December 2023 accused of a fraud she denies.
Wai denies an additional charge of misconduct in a public office while working as a UK Border Force officer between 16 September 2022 and 2 May 2024 by conducting searches of Home Office databases available to him in his role without justification for doing so.
The jury was told Trickett, an immigration enforcement officer, who previously worked for UK Border Force at Heathrow, is not standing trial because he died in May 2024.
The trial continues.
