Ex-Cop, Border Officer Trial: Spying on Hong Kong Activists

0:00That's your update from Europe news today, powered by AI. I'm Corey with the story. A retired Hong Kong police superintendent and a British border force officer are on trial in London for allegedly spying on pro-democracy activists. For China, 65-year-old Bill Yuan, a dual Chinese-British citizen, and 38-year-old Peter Wai, face charges under the National Security Act. Prosecutors say Yuan directed Wai to track Hong Kong dissidents and politicians in the UK. Those protests that started in Hong Kong in 2019 soon hit London, targeting the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office, where Yuan worked after retiring in 2015. He testified that vandalism in crowds forced him to hire security, including Wai, whom he met by chance, and thought was a police officer running a private firm. Yuan described the tense moment outside a city event in April 2023, where a protester with a loud hailer cursed him and his family to die, while blocking a vehicle. Earlier incidents included flares at the office door on July 1, 2021, and eggs thrown at

1:05judge photos, splashing as clothes. Both men deny assisting a foreign intelligence service from December 2023 to May, 2020-24, or interfering by entering a UK Home On May 1. Wai also faces misconduct charges for unauthorized home office database searches. The old Bailey Trial moves forward, with more testimony expected soon.