Why the UK is unlikely to shut Hong Kong’s London trade office despite spying verdict

The operations of Hong Kong’s Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London will remain unaffected by a UK spying verdict, observers have said, arguing that the British government is unlikely to seek the body’s closure so as to maintain relations with Beijing. A British court on Thursday found Bill Yuen Chung-biu, the London HKETO’s manager, and Peter Wai Chi-leung, a retired Hong Kong police superintendent, guilty of spying on activists from Hong Kong on behalf of Chinese authorities. The Hong...