An alleged Chinese spy who has links to Prince Andrew has been named by the High Court.
Yang Tengbo, 50, met former prime ministers Theresa May and David Cameron and it’s understood he visited Buckingham Palace twice as a guest of the Duke. As reported by the Mirror, pressure is mounting on Andrew, with King Charles said to be considering banning him from attending Christmas events.
Last year, Mr Tengbo – who founded lobbying firm Hampton Group International – was expelled from the UK amid claims he was gathering information for the United Front Work Department (UFWD), an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The businessman, also known as Chris Yang, is alleged to have used his links with Prince Andrew to secure invites to high-profile events and royal residences.
In a statement he denied being a spy. Keir Starmer said on Monday that he was “concerned” about the threat China poses, but the Prime Minister refused to be drawn into discussions with Buckingham Palace. According to The Sunday Times, Mr Tengbo visited Buckingham Palace twice after being invited by Prince Andrew, as well as attending events at St James’s Palace and Windsor Palace. In court he was described as having built up “an unusual degree of trust” with the royal.
He is understood to have met Lord Cameron at a Downing Street reception and Mrs May at a black tie event, and kept photos of each in his London office. In 2010, Mr Tengbo is also reported to have travelled on a delegation to China alongside former deputy PM John Prescott, who died last month.
Mr Tengbo said he has “done nothing wrong or unlawful”, adding in a statement that the “widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue”. Speaking in Norway, Mr Starmer refused to criticise the Duke, or reveal whether he had discussed the matter with Buckingham Palace. But he did tell reporters he is “concerned” about the challenge China poses. The PM added: “I’m not going to comment on Buckingham Palace or the royal side because as I said by convention, the government never does.”
It is feared that the alleged spy used his access to high-profile British figures to advance China’s interests – which Beijing denies. The Times reported that Mr Tengbo’s phone was found to contain a letter from Dominic Hampshire, a senior adviser to Prince Andrew.
It reportedly said: “I hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal (the Duke) and indeed his family. You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship… outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.”
The alleged spy was also authorised to act on the Duke’s behalf with potential investors for an international financial initiative called the Eurasia Fund, it is claimed. The Duke was appointed as a trade envoy by Tony Blair in 2001, and served in that role until 2011.
The matter came to light when Mr Tengbo brought an appeal against his exclusion to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac). This was thrown out, with judges saying former Home Secretary Suella Braverman was entitled to conclude that he represented a risk to national security.
On Monday morning former security minister Tom Tugendhat said the allegations are the “tip of the iceberg”. He told BBC Breakfast: “I’m sure it’s happening now. I’m absolutely certain that there are members of the United Front Work Department who are active right now in attempting to influence journalism, academics, politics, and the whole lot. This is really the tip of the iceberg.
“And so the story I can understand why it’s been about Prince Andrew, but it’s not really about Prince Andrew. It’s about the way the Chinese Communist Party is seeking to exert influence here in the United Kingdom.”
Mr Tengbo said the commission’s processes were “inherently unfair” and said judges had acknowledged their could be an innocent explanation for his actions. In a statement issued through his lawyers he said: “Due to the high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere, I have asked my legal team to disclose my identity. I have done nothing wrong or unlawful and the concerns raised by the Home Office against me are ill-founded. The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue.
“This is why I applied for a review of the Home Office decision in the first place, and why I am seeking permission to appeal the SIAC decision.” He continued: “I have been excluded from seeing most of the evidence that was used against me under a process which is widely acknowledged by SIAC practitioners as inherently unfair: decisions are made based on secret evidence and closed proceedings, which has been described as ‘taking blind shots at a hidden target’.
“On their own fact finding, even the three judges in this case concluded that there was ‘not an abundance of evidence’ against me, their decision was ‘finely balanced’, and there could be an ‘innocent explanation’ for my activities. This has not been reported in the media.”
Pressure is mounting on Prince Andrew over his links to the alleged spy, with fresh questions about his judgement. Royals are claimed to be furious after he became embroiled in the fresh scandal, with the King reportedly considering banning him from appearing in public over Christmas.
It is claimed that the Duke of York could be barred from the royal family ’s Christmas Day walk from Sandringham House to St Mary Magdalene church in Norfolk. Insiders have called on him to “do the decent thing” and voluntarily withdraw from public view, according to The Times.
Tory shadow farming minister Robbie Moore said on Monday morning: “It’s not really for me to get involved in advising the royal family on what they should be advising Prince Andrew to do…But I think Prince Andrew would be wise, I suspect, just to sit back for a while.”
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