The Hong Kong government will not comment on the death of a British man accused of spying for the city, finance chief Paul Chan has said, hours after the Briton was confirmed dead in the UK.
Former Royal Marine and security contractor Matthew Trickett, one of three men involved in a high-profile UK national security case, was found in Maidenhead’s Grenfell Park on Sunday, a week after he was granted bail. Police officers provided emergency treatment but Trickett was pronounced dead at the scene.
Trickett was arrested earlier this month alongside Bill Yuen and Peter Wai, and charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and foreign interference on behalf of Hong Kong. He was next scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
Prosecutors have cited transaction records alleging that Trickett was paid by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London for surveillance jobs.
No comment
Finance minister Chan told reporters on Wednesday that the government would not comment on individual cases and any occurrences pertaining to them.
Asked whether the London HKETO played a role in surveilling Hongkongers who had moved to the UK, Undersecretary for Commerce and Economic Development Bernard Chan said that people had “misunderstandings” regarding the role of the trade offices.
He said under the framework of One Country, Two Systems, and based on the Basic Law and the laws of foreign countries, Hong Kong has set up 14 Economic and Trade offices around the world, responsible for communicating with local governments and the commerce community to enhance Hong Kong’s trade interests.
The HKETOs are managed by the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau.
“In the future, HKETO staff will continue our work, fearlessly and impartially, following regulations and laws, to promote Hong Kong’s unique advantages and to tell a good Hong Kong story,” Chan said in Cantonese.
Asked if he denied the allegations that the London HKETO had commissioned people to monitor activists, Chan said he would not comment on “speculations” made online, nor on “absurd accusations”.
HKETO duties ‘changed’
Those remarks came days after top government advisor Regina Ip said that recent political developments meant the work of the HKETOs had “changed”.
“Anti-China legislators and exiled Hongkongers are stirring up trouble [in the UK], introducing motions against Hong Kong even calling for sanctions. The HKETOs have to be aware of this,” she told a Now TV interview.
She questioned why it was a crime for Hong Kong’s office to gather intelligence as consulates in Hong Kong, she believed, were also doing so.
Though the trade offices are neither embassies nor consulates, they are afforded quasi-diplomatic privileges, exemptions, and immunities similar to other international bodies.
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