Three Men Charged in the UK under National Security Act

Three men have been charged under the National Security Act

Three men have been charged under Britain's National Security Act for allegedly assisting the Hong Kong intelligence service according to the London Metropolitan Police on Monday.

The trio are Peter Wai Chi-leung, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Bill Yuen Chung-biu, 63. Yuen is of particular interest because the Hong Kong government confirmed he is an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office in London.

Yuen is the office manager at the London HKETO

They are alleged to have carried out surveillance, gathered information, and forced entry into a residential address in the United Kindom.

Yuen is believed to be a former police officer, while Wai is understood to be a city of London Police special constable and the director of D5 Security Limited, and has over 20 years' experience in the British military, police and private security sector.

Finally Trickett was an immigration enforcement officer, and also a director of MTR Consultancy, a security, surveillance and private investigation firm.

With these charges, particularly on Yuen, some countries may review the roles of HKETOs on their soil; in the meantime this latest development could further sour relations between the UK and China.

Nevertheless, pro-China experts were quick to be on the defensive. 

Lau Siu-kai of the semi-official Beijing think tank, the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, said: "It is indeed reasonable for the Hong Kong authorities to look into the anti-China activists," he said.

Wai has police and military experience

"Britain might want to demonstrate their responsibilities in protecting these anti-China activists now settled in the country, but is this so-called information really that significant which could threaten national security?"

Meanwhile Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu warned countries against their attempts to interfere with Hong Kong's trade promotion outposts overseas.

"Any attempt to interfere with the work of the [HKETOs] in different places will be against free trade and free economy, and will be harming the economy of the countries that try to do bad things to the operation of the [HKETOs]," Lee added. 

"We will of course, do our best to protect the rightful interest and the rights that [HKETOs] enjoy as a result of legitimate officials working for the Hong Kong government, and we'll urge all governments to respect the rightful duty of our [HKETOs] in their economies."

Trickett has a private investigation firm

In the meantime, Tom Tugendhat, Britain's security minister, said Monday that the National Security Act, which was passed last year to target threats from foreign states, was a game-changer in terms of the country's ability to crack down on foreign intelligence services and hostile actors.

Currently Hong Kong has 14 HKETOs outside China, including one in London, three in the United States, and two in Canada, one in Toronto and the other in Vancouver. These offices enjoy some of the privileges and immunities of diplomatic missions.

Five More Activists Have HK$1M Bounties

Five more people have HK$1M bounties on their heads

The Hong Kong government continues its fear campaign by putting HK$1 million (US$128,000) bounties on another five people living abroad for violating the national security law.  

There are arrest warrants for Johnny Fok and Tony Choi, who host a YouTube channel on current affairs, and pro-democracy activists Simon Cheng Man-kit, Frances Hui Wing-ting, and Joey Siu. They are either in the United States or Britain.

Siu, an American citizen, wrote in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter that she woke up to the news about the bounty on her head "for exercising my freedoms in my own country", adding, "I will never be silenced, I will never back down."

Li says the five have betrayed Hong Kong

These five people join the eight other activists also abroad, where the Hong Kong authorities claim they will pursue them for life with these bounties. This declaration has drawn criticism from western governments.

Steve Li Kwai-wah is the chief superintendent of the police national security department and said they have received some 500 pieces of information since the first round of bounties were announced, but this has not led to any arrests -- yet.

The five activists added to the list have allegedly committed various offenses, including colluding with foreign forces and incitement to secession.

"They all betrayed their own country and betrayed Hong Kong," he said in a press conference. "After they fled overseas, they continued to engage in activities endangering national security."

To add further fears, police arrested four other people on Wednesday on suspicion of funding former pro-democracy lawmakers, Nathan Law Kwun-chung and Ted Hui Chi-fung through an "online subscription and crowdfunding platform." The four were alleged to have provided financial support to the pair. The amounts ranged from HK$10,000 to HK$120,000 (US$1,280-US$15,400). 

Cheng is "honoured" to be hunted by HK police

It is believed the online platform the police are alluding to is Patreon.

Cheng, who some may remember, worked for the British Consulate in Hong Kong and was detained on a business trip to Shenzhen. He was arrested by Chinese authorities for allegedly "soliciting prostitutes" and after he was released told of how he was physically tortured in a bid to make him confess he was a spy for Britain. He eventually fled to the UK and has been there since.

On X he wrote of his reaction to having a bounty on his head: "Being hunted by China (Hong Kong)'s secret police, under a one-million-dollar bounty, is a lifelong honor."

Even though these activists say it's an honour to have a bounty on their heads, surely this is counterproductive to the Hong Kong government's efforts to try to lure people to visit the city? By creating an atmosphere of fear, how can they entice people to a "Happy Hong Kong"?

Rewriting Hong Kong's History

Two million people came out to protest on June 16, 2019

The Hong Kong government has moved quickly to rewrite the city's history in textbooks.

The newly revamped liberal studies textbook now says that Hong Kong was never a British colony because the Chinese government didn't recognise unequal treaties that ceded the city to Britain.

It also says the United Nations removed Hong Kong from a list of colonies in 1972 after China made the demand.

Textbooks claim HK was not a British colony

In addition the textbooks have adopted the government's version of the 2019 protests, saying they were a threat to national security and that external forces were behind the unrest.

Veteran Chinese history teacher Chan Chi-wa explained most local textbooks in the 1990s and before mentioned Hong Kong as a "British colony", and later on it was described as Britain exercised colonial rule over Hong Kong in 1997. 

Sounds like the same thing, but more wordy, no?

Chan said last year at a briefing by education officials stated clearly that Hong Kong was not a colony, and this concept needed to be taught to students. He also noted only the Chinese perspective was presented in the revamped textbooks.

When it came to describing the 2019 protests, one textbook claimed protesters had openly challenged the central government by asking foreign forces to interfere in Hong Kong affairs, and impose sanctions on the city.

Another textbook liberally mentions national security more than 400 times, saying legislation was imposed out of "urgency" due to violent activities in Hong Kong in 2019. The textbook said the central authorities believed foreign forces were involved in the unrest and that the city's government could not handle them on its own.

People like Maria Tam are mentioned in textbook

As if that wasn't enough, the textbook highlights key pro-Beijing politicians, including Basic Law Committee vice-chairwoman Maria Tam Wai-chu, Lau Siu-kai of the semi-official Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies think tank, and Professor Priscilla Lau Pui-king, a former Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress.

Yet another textbook claimed the 2019 protests disrupted social order, disrupted law-abiding awareness of some people and serious endangered national security. 

A teacher of liberal studies for 10 years who spoke on condition of anonymity said they already expected the textbooks to entirely quote official information on how the national security law came to be imposed.

"Discussing the issue with different perspectives and critical thinking only happens in liberal studies, but not this subject," the veteran educator said, adding the guidelines did not require them to teach details like police performance during the protests.

Meanwhile Scientia Secondary School principal Wong Ching-yung said textbooks should not go into details of the unrest as people would have different views...

Liberal Studies aims to instil nationalism 

Isn't that part of the point of education? To be able to freely and openly discuss different points of view to promote a pluralistic society and teach students tolerance and diversity?

But when it comes to history, it seems the government already has the upper hand in trying to whitewash history. But as it is only the third anniversary of the June 16 protests, where 2 million people came out on the streets against the extradition bill, memories and emotions are still raw -- young and old participated.

It will take several generations to try to completely change the narrative.