On 7 May, a court in the UK convicted Chung Biu Yuen, an employee of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, of “assisting a foreign intelligence service”. Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy issued the following statement on this matter:

The Chinese side has made clear its principled position on the relevant case many times. The facts of this case clearly show that this is nothing but a political move of abusing the law and manipulating the judicial process by the UK side. Its sole purpose is to embolden those anti-China elements who are hiding in the UK and bent on destablising Hong Kong, and to smear the Chinese government and the Hong Kong SAR government. We deplore such an act and have made solemn representations with the UK side.

We urge the UK side to immediately stop the anti-China political manipulation, stop backing and emboldening those anti-China elements and stop all acts that smear China and interfere in Hong Kong affairs. We will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard our interests.