- Chief Executive John Lee called for respect for Hong Kong’s Overseas Trade Department after a London official was charged with spying.
- Mr Lee said the unfair allegations against Hong Kong were unacceptable and called on Britain to explain the charges.
- He expressed the role of the Department of Trade in promoting relations and warned against interference.
Hong Kong’s leader on Tuesday urged foreign governments to respect trade offices based overseas after an employee of the city’s London branch was indicted in Britain on suspicion of working for Chinese intelligence services. requested.
Chief Executive John Lee said his government had asked the British government to explain the prosecution of Bill Yuen, head of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London. Lee said any attempt to file false allegations against the city government is unacceptable.
British police agreed that Yuen, along with Chee-Leung (Peter) Wai and Matthew Trickett, would engage in intelligence-gathering, surveillance and deception activities that could materially assist Hong Kong intelligence services. claims to have done so. The three were charged under new national security laws that give British police additional powers to deal with foreign espionage.
Three men charged in Britain with cooperating with Hong Kong intelligence services
Mr Lee told a weekly press conference that the London Board of Trade’s mission is to foster relations with various sectors of the UK and promote Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee speaks at a reception at Golden Bauhinia Square on October 1, 2023 in Hong Kong. Lee on Tuesday called on foreign governments to respect trade offices based overseas after the London branch staff were indicted. Britain on suspicion of working for an intelligence agency in a Chinese city. (AP Photo/Longhei Zhang, File)
“Any attempt to interfere with the operations of ETO offices in various locations is contrary to free trade and free economies, and will harm the economies of the countries in which they seek to interfere with the operations of ETO offices,” he said. I will give it to you.”
Monday’s indictment is likely to worsen relations between Britain and China. Chinese authorities in both the UK and Hong Kong have criticized the accusations, saying they are the latest in a series of “baseless and defamatory” accusations made by the British government against China.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in Beijing on Tuesday that China is gravely concerned about the prosecution of Chinese nationals and called on Britain to protect the legitimate rights of Chinese nationals in the UK.
“The British side has been touting so-called Chinese espionage and Chinese cyber attacks for some time,” he said. “China firmly opposes such despicable acts of political manipulation in the name of justice and national security.”
In April, British prosecutors indicted two men, including a former British parliamentary researcher, on charges of spying for China. The Chinese embassy claimed the allegations were fabricated.
On Monday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak warned that the UK faces an increasingly dangerous future due to the threat from an “axis of authoritarian states” including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.
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Hong Kong has always been a particular source of tension between the UK and China. The former British colony was returned to China in 1997 under a deal that included Beijing’s promise to maintain for 50 years certain autonomy and freedoms of assembly, speech and press not granted in communist-ruled mainland China. It was done. Critics say those freedoms have all but disappeared.
The three were granted bail in a London court on Monday, with their next court appearance scheduled for May 24.
Hong Kong media reported that Yuen is a former Hong Kong police officer. The Associated Press found Yuen’s name listed in local police information materials online.
At Tuesday’s press conference, Mr. Lee also responded to reports about a photo he took with Mr. Yuen for a news article several years ago.
“This photo looks like a graduation group photo,” he said. This photo is my only impression of this person.
