My Take | British espionage case against Hong Kong demands scepticism
- The UK government and London police may be telling the truth, but do not assume Western officials never manipulate or lie about spy intrigue
In the united Anglo-American media front, cause and effect are often reversed. With that, the latest case alleging Hong Kong spies in the city’s London trade promotion office could be a learning moment.
The conventional news story is that three men with links to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in central London have been charged with “assisting a foreign intelligence service and foreign interference” under the National Security Act.
One of the men is HKETO officer manager Bill Yuen Chung-biu, who was also a former senior Hong Kong police officer.
The charges specifically refer to Hong Kong, rather than China.
No doubt it’s just a coincidence, but the British government has been blasting the Beijing-imposed national security law and Hong Kong’s own legislation passed under Article 23 of the city’s Basic Law while legislating a similarly draconian law that came into force last year.
In the current political climate, it’s worth your while to consider the reverse, that is, there have been calls to shut down HKETOs in Western countries, but particularly in the US and Britain. And so, a spy case has been conveniently conjured up to add meat to a bare-bone anti-Hong Kong cause that has so far been making wild claims without much evidence.
