Photo of Zheng Zeguang, Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Britain’s foreign ministry has summoned the Chinese ambassador after three men were charged with spying for Hong Kong, the Telegraph newspaper reported on May 14.

The ambassador will be challenged by officials over the allegations that three men had assisted Hong Kong’s foreign intelligence service in Britain, the newspaper said. The men appeared in a London Court on May 13.

Britain’s Foreign Office had no immediate comment.

The men are accused of helping the Hong Kong agency between December and May by “agreeing to undertake information gathering, surveillance and acts of deception” in Britain, according to the charges.

The Chinese Embassy in London accused Britain of fabricating the charges and said it had no right to interfere in Hong Kong’s affairs.

Hong Kong was under British rule for 156 years before reverting to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.