Three men have been charged with assisting Hong Kong's secret service, London's Metropolitan Police said on Monday, following an investigation in which arrests and searches were carried out across England.
The three people charged under the UK National Security Act have been identified as Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, of Staines-upon-Thames, Matthew Trickett, 37, of Maidenhead, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, of Hackney , East London.
“The foreign intelligence service to which the above allegations relate is that of Hong Kong,” police said in a statement.
All three men appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday. As court proceedings are now active, Britain's reporting restrictions apply, preventing speculation about the case.
Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's counter-terrorism command, said the investigation was continuing. “While these crimes are concerning, I want to reassure the public that we do not believe there is a wider threat to them,” he said.
Eleven people in total were arrested during the investigation. Eight men and one woman were arrested on May 1 in Yorkshire, northern England, by counter-terrorism police officers. The next day, a man was arrested in London and another in Yorkshire.
The eight people who had not been charged were released from custody.
The announcement coincided with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's warning that the country was facing some of the most dangerous years it has ever known.
In a speech in London on Monday morning, Sunak described China, Russia, North Korea and Iran as a newly assertive “axis of authoritarian states”.
“More things will change in the next five years than in the last 30. I am convinced that the next few years will be among the most dangerous and at the same time the most transformative our country has ever known,” Sunak said, adding: “Our country is at a crossroads.”
With a general election due in the second half of the year, Sunak's speech had a highly political tone, seeking to draw lines between his Conservative Party and the opposition Labor Party, which is far ahead in the polls. 'opinion. Britain, Sunak said, would be less safe if the Labor leader, Keir Starmer, became prime minister.
“In the coming years, from our democracy to our economy to our society – to the most difficult issues like war and peace – almost every aspect of our lives will change,” he said.
In a statement, Pat McFadden, Labour's campaign coordinator, responded that “the only way to stop the chaos, turn the page and start renewing is with a change of government.”