Hong Kong pressures UK over national security arrest of trade office official

HONG KONG, May 14 (Reuters) - Hong Kong leader John Lee on Tuesday called for full information from British authorities on the arrests of three men, including a manager at a Hong Kong government office in the UK, who were charged with assisting Hong Kong's foreign intelligence service.

Speaking to reporters a day after the men appeared in a British court, Lee confirmed that one of the men, Bill Yuen, was a university classmate who was photographed with Lee in a group graduation photograph from 2002.

Lee cited a statement from the Chinese embassy in London rejecting what it called "the UK's fabrication of the so-called case and its unwarranted accusation" against the Hong Kong government.

The three men, including Bill Yuen Chung-biu, the office manager of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) in London, are accused of assisting a foreign intelligence service between December and May by "agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception" in Britain, according to the charges brought in court.

They were charged with offences under Britain's National Security Act. (Reporting by James Pomfret; Editing by Gerry Doyle)