British authorities charged three men on Monday with foreign interference and assisting Hong Kong's intelligence service, under the UK's 2023 National Security Act.
Among the accused was an office manager at the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (ETO) in London, the Hong Kong government confirmed.
The Chinese finance hub has its own trade policies distinct from mainland China and does not operate consulates abroad.
Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday defended the work of ETOs as crucial for promoting economic and cultural exchanges, adding that he urged all governments to respect the "rightful duties of our ETO officers in their economies".
A photograph of a group of university graduates published by the South China Morning Post newspaper in 2002 included a man with the same name as the accused ETO office manager, Chung Biu Yuen, appearing alongside Lee.
Lee confirmed on Tuesday that he was one of the graduates in the picture, which has circulated online.
The accused man "is reportedly in the photo as well. My recollection of this person is limited to this photo," Lee told reporters.
The photo showed eight Hong Kong police officers who graduated from a management programme at Charles Sturt University in Australia, according to a 2002 South China Morning Post article.
Lee holds a master's degree of public policy and administration from Charles Sturt University, according to his official biography.
China's top diplomat in Hong Kong strongly condemned Britain on Monday for "trumping up charges, arbitrarily arresting Chinese citizens and slandering the Hong Kong government".
Lee, a former police officer and security chief, said Tuesday he is awaiting reply after demanding further details about the case from the British consulate general in Hong Kong.
"Any attempt to make unwarranted allegation against the (Hong Kong) government is unacceptable," he said.
Britain has repeatedly denounced the treatment of pro-democracy campaigners in its former colony, and launched a visa scheme to allow Hong Kong residents to come to the UK.
As a result, it has become a refuge for dissidents, including veteran unionist Christopher Mung and pro-democracy activist Finn Lau.
Hong Kong police last year issued a wanted list of eight overseas activists that included Mung and Lau.
China slams UK arrests over Hong Kong spy case
London (AFP) May 13, 2024 -
China accused Britain of "cooking up" charges after three suspects on Monday appeared before a UK court accused of assisting Hong Kong's intelligence services, in the latest Chinese-linked alleged espionage case in Europe.
The three men, dressed in grey tracksuits, spoke only to confirm their names and addresses during the short hearing, after being arrested last week in Britain.
Chi Leung Wai, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen, 63, all from southeast England, were released on bail, with the next hearing due to take place on May 24.
Police announced earlier on Monday that they had charged three men with assisting a foreign intelligence service and also with foreign interference, in violation of the 2023 National Security Act.
The act came into force in December and is designed to bolster UK national security against so-called "hostile activity" targeting the country's democratic institutions, economy and values.
"A number of arrests were made and searches carried out across England as part of this investigation," said Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.
Police said the "foreign intelligence service" in question was Hong Kong's.
China's foreign affairs commissioner in its territory of Hong Kong "strongly condemned" Britain for "cooking up charges" and accused it of a "vicious intention to interfere" in Hong Kong's affairs.
The office warned that Britain would receive "China's firm and strong retaliation".
The UK has been outspoken about the Hong Kong government's new national security law, which it views as eroding the territory's rights and freedoms.
Britain has repeatedly denounced the treatment of pro-democracy campaigners in its former colony, and launched a visa scheme to allow Hong Kong residents to come to the UK.
As a result, it has become a refuge for dissidents, including pro-democracy politician Nathan Law.
Hong Kong police last year issued a wanted list of eight overseas activists that included Law.
As part of the Met police's investigation, 11 people were taken into custody last week.
Counter terrorism officers arrested eight men and a woman in Yorkshire, northern England, on Wednesday. Two more men were arrested on Thursday.
Eight people -- seven men and a woman -- were not charged and were released from custody on or before Friday, police added.
The Hong Kong government said in a statement that one of the three men charged was the office manager of its trade office in London.
- 'Pathetic' -
The case comes after two men, one of whom works in the UK parliament, were last month charged with spying for China. They are due to be tried next year.
Former prime minister David Cameron, now foreign minister, in 2015 hailed a "Golden Age" between London and Beijing, but relations have deteriorated significantly in recent years.
As well as Hong Kong, the two countries have clashed over the fate of the Uighur Muslim minority in China's Xinjiang region and over human rights in Tibet.
The last British governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, called Cameron's "Golden Age" proclamation "absolutely pathetic".
"David Cameron introducing Xi Jinping to his pub near Chequers with a warm pint of beer -- for what?" Patten told a new BBC Radio 4 programme called "Shadow War: China and the West".
Patten, who was Hong Kong governor from 1992 to 1997, accepted that "we want to do business with" China, but added that "the idea that you can only do this on your knees, I find demeaning and ludicrous".
Amnesty International said in a report published on Monday that China was targeting citizens studying abroad for their political activism, with some students reporting harassment of family members back home.
Asked about the Amnesty report on Monday, Beijing's foreign ministry dismissed it as "purely malicious smears".
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