Bill Yuen, 65, who worked for the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in London, is accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service.
A former police superintendent has denied being employed by the Hong Kong government to “gather intelligence” in the UK within months of his retirement from the force.
Dual Chinese-British national Bill Yuen, 65, is on trial at the Old Bailey on charges under the National Security Act alongside Border Force official Peter Wai, 38.
On Tuesday, Yuen denied tasking Wai to gather intelligence on Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters or to pay special attention to British politicians supportive of their cause.
He also denied asking Wai to carry out surveillance on high profile dissident, Nathan Law, who had a “bounty” on his head and was pictured outside the Oxford Union.
Between 1997 and 2015, Yuen was employed by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China (HKSAR) as a police officer, rising to the rank of superintendent.
On his retirement in February 2015, Yuen travelled to the UK to join his wife and two grown-up children living in London.
Six months later, he began working at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office (HKETO) in London as office manager, said to be the third most senior role in the organisation.
Yuen told jurors he had responded to an advert in May 2015 and got the job after an interview on Zoom.
Cross-examining on Tuesday, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson KC suggested Yuen had not changed his employer at all, and was still in the pay of the Hong Kong government.
He said: “You get here in February 2015 and, by April, your wife wants you out of the house and back to work – within two months.
“And, within three months, you have applied for a job which just happens to be the organisation you had worked for – for the preceding 20-odd years – the Hong Kong Administrative Region. That is just a coincidence?”
Yuen said: “It is. Strictly speaking I wasn’t a civil servant of Hong Kong because I have never had the chance of receiving any promotion, it is a post for local employees.”
Mr Atkinson queried why Yuen did not mention his role in arranging security for HKETO following his arrest in May 2024.
Yuen said it was not something that “popped up in my mind” but insisted he had “no reason” to hide anything.
Mr Atkinson went on: “Was it the position it was part of your job to gather intelligence on behalf of Hong Kong?”
Yuen replied: “Absolutely not. If they really want me to do so they should ask a Hong Kong officer to do it, they don’t need to hire a 66-year-old man to do it.”
Mr Atkinson asserted: “You moved from the Hong Kong police to a role in London that allowed you to continue to act as an investigator for Hong Kong, to gather information for Hong Kong. That was part of your job, that was why you were here.
“You moved over to continue your work for the Hong Kong Administrative Region, didn’t you?”
Yuen replied: “Absolutely not.”
Yuen has told jurors he employed Wai’s private security firm to provide protection for HKETO and visiting dignitaries who were targeted by protesters.
He has said that he thought Wai was a high ranking British police officer and only found out that was not the case after his arrest.
As well as working for UK Border Force, Wai was a special constable with the City of London Police.
He allegedly misused his position to make unauthorised searches of the Home Office computer system.
On behalf of Wai, Aftab Jafferjee KC asked if Yuen would have been friends with him had he known he was “only a special constable”.
Yuen replied: “I could be. That is a hypothetic question.
“I was never aware he was a border control officer.”
Wai and Yuen are jointly charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service between December 20 2023 and May 2 2024, and a second charge of foreign interference on May 1 2024 by forcing entry into a UK residential address.
Wai is also accused of misconduct in a public office by misusing his access to the Home Office computer system.
Wai, of Staines-upon-Thames, Surrey; and Yuen, of Hackney, east London, have denied the charges against them.
The Old Bailey trial continues.
