The Chinese regime is trying to send spies to the UK by abusing a special visa scheme designed to help Hongkongers flee the increasingly harsh crackdown on freedoms in the former British colony, a British newspaper reported on Monday. The UK government is aware of “sleeper agents” working for the Chinese regime applying for UK visas under a new scheme designed to offer holders of British National (Overseas) status in Hong Kong a path to citizenship, The Times of London quoted UK government sources as saying. “There are stringent background checks in place for the visa applications—and they’re in place for a reason,” the government sources were quoted as saying. “The vetting process for the BNO visa scheme is much more thorough than any other.” Benedict Rogers, chief executive of the NGO Hong Kong Watch, who is also a co-founder of the UK Conservative Party’s Human Rights Commission, said the …