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Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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3 men charged in UK with assisting Hong Kong intelligence service

by Associated Press

London --

British police have charged three men with assisting the Hong Kong
intelligence service amid growing concern that hostile states are
trying to interfere with democracy and economic activity in the U.K.

The three men were among 11 people arrested earlier this month in
Yorkshire and London by counterterrorism police using provisions of a
new law that allows suspects in national security and espionage cases
to be detained without warrant. The eight other suspects were released
without charge.

Chi Leung (Peter) Wai, 38, Matthew Trickett, 37, and Chung Biu Yuen,
63, are also charged with foreign interference, the Metropolitan Police
Service said. They will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on
Monday.

"A number of arrests were made and searches carried out across England
as part of this investigation," Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the
Met's counterterrorism command, said in a statement. "While led from
London, the Counter Terrorism Policing network has been crucial to
disrupting this activity."

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak prepares to
deliver a speech on Monday in which he is expected to say that Britain
is facing an increasingly dangerous future due to threats from an "axis
of authoritarian states," including Russia, China, Iran and North
Korea. Tensions with China flared last year after a parliamentary
researcher was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing, charges
that Chinese officials called a "malicious smear."

Hong Kong's security bureau, Hong Kong police and the office of China's
foreign ministry in Hong Kong didn't immediately respond to requests
for comment.

The British government last year passed a new national security act
that gave police additional powers to tackle foreign espionage. The
legislation was needed to combat the "ever-evolving" threat of foreign
interference and in "response to the threat of hostile activity from
states targeting the U.K.'s democracy, economy, and values," the
government said.

The arrests in the current case were made on May 1 and 2. The
investigation is continuing, police said.

#hong-kong #china #uk #espionage #counterterrorism #metropolitan-police #met #the-met

The Metropolitan police (the #police force of Greater #London) is broken and rotten, suffering collapsing public trust and is guilty of institutional #racism, #misogyny and #homophobia, according to an official report by Louise Casey. The report was commissioned by the #Met after one of its officers abducted Sarah Everard, taking her from from a London street in March 2021, before raping and murdering her.

The 363-page report details disturbing stories of sexual assaults, usually covered up or downplayed, with 12% of women in the Met saying they had been harassed or attacked at work, and one-third experiencing sexism.

Lady Casey said that the lifeblood of British policing was haemorrhaging and her report warned that “public consent is broken” with just 50% of the public expressing confidence, even before revelations about the force’s worst recent scandals.

She pinned the primary blame on its past leadership and said: “Public respect has fallen to a low point. Londoners who do not have confidence in the Met outnumber those who do, and these measures have been lower amongst black Londoners for years.

...

Casey revealed that one Muslim officer had bacon stuffed in his boots, a Sikh officer had his beard cut, minority ethnic officers were much more likely to be disciplined or leave, and Britain’s biggest force remains disproportionately white, in a capital that is increasingly diverse.

Stop and search and use of force against black people was excessive, found the report for the Met – which stops more people per head of population than any other force.

A catalogue of suffering by women included frequent abuses by senior officers, including one subjecting a female junior to repeated harassment and an indecent act.

etc.

#corruption #violence ...