UK 'China spying' suspects told to expect trial next year

UK 'China spying' suspects told to expect trial next year
by AFP Staff Writers
London (AFP) May 10, 2024

Two men, including a former parliamentary researcher, will face trial in London next year on charges of spying for China, a judge said on Friday.

Christopher Cash, 29, and Christopher Berry, 32, were charged last month under the UK's counter-espionage Official Secrets Act.

They made their first appearance at the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London on Friday, where judge Jeremy Baker told them they would go on trial "in the spring or summer of next year".

No firm date was set for the case. Neither man entered a plea and both spoke only to confirm their personal details.

They were released on conditional bail and a further preliminary hearing will take place at the same court on October 4.

Cash previously worked at the UK parliament as a researcher, where he had contact with senior Conservative members of parliament.

He is accused of having "obtained, collected, recorded, published or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy".

He is alleged to have committed the offence between January 2022 and February last year.

Berry, who held various teaching posts in China from 2015, is accused of the same offence between December 2021 and February 2023.

The charges were announced on the same day that prosecutors in Germany arrested three German nationals on suspicion of sharing information on maritime technology with Beijing.

The authorities in Beijing have dismissed both as an attempt to "smear and suppress" China.

US calls for Hong Kong assurances on internet freedom
Washington (AFP) May 9, 2024 - Hong Kong should provide assurances that it will preserve internet freedom if it wants to remain a major economic hub, the top US diplomat in the city said Thursday.

The Chinese city, which was promised autonomy when Britain handed it back in 1997, on Wednesday demanded that online platforms take down an anthem of pro-democracy protesters after a court banned the song.

"Hong Kong authorities have stepped onto that slippery slope of trying to censor some content on the internet and it begs the question -- where is this going to end?" Consul General Gregory May told an online event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

May said that an open internet was a major advantage of Hong Kong over mainland China, whose tight online controls "make life very difficult for foreign companies."

"I do believe companies and individuals would very much appreciate a stronger and clearer assurance by Hong Kong authorities that the internet is going to remain basically free and open," May said.

"I believe that Hong Kong wants to remain a very competitive place and maintain a very competitive environment. But I think they could say more explicitly what their plans in this space are."

Since authorities cracked down on pro-democracy protests in 2019, the United States has revoked a special trading status for Hong Kong and imposed sanctions on its officials.

May said the top concern for Washington was growing "transnational repression" by Hong Kong police against critics based in the United States.

But he said the United States was willing to respond to improvements.

"If we see a change of course, we're very open to doing what we can to try to get on a better footing and a better relationship with Hong Kong," he said.