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UK spying case puts Hong Kong trade offices in London and elsewhere in the cross hairs of geopolitical battles

  • Hong Kong trade office in London was where former city leader Carrie Lam and ex-finance chief John Tsang nurtured their budding government careers
  • Office grabbed headlines across Hong Kong and the UK after manager was ensnared in an alleged spying case

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Once a hothouse for grooming elite civil servants, Hong Kong’s trade office in London was where former city leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and ex-financial secretary John Tsang Chun-wah nurtured their budding careers before rising to the top jobs within government.
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But as UK-Hong Kong relations hit rock bottom following the 2019 protests and the city’s implementation of the national security law, the government outpost has become a hotspot for protests and even vandalism.
The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London grabbed headlines across Hong Kong and the UK on Monday after its 63 -year-old office manager was ensnared in an alleged spying case.

The UK authorities’ arrest of Bill Yuen Chung-biu was the first targeting Hongkongers since London updated its National Security Act last December to address “evolving threats”.

Yuen’s background as a former superintendent who attended a police training programme with Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in the early 2000s has fuelled heated discussion on the British operation.
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The other two suspects are Peter Wai Chi-leung, 38, and Matthew Trickett, 37.
Bill Yuen is a former Hong Kong police officer. Photo: SCMP
Bill Yuen is a former Hong Kong police officer. Photo: SCMP
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