This story which mixes China and the British royal family could be the scenario for an incredible spy series. However, it is very real, and involves important economic and national security interests. For several days, an affair that has until now remained partially secret has been publicly unfolding in the British Parliament, which has been poisoning the chaotic diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and China since 2023: the affair of the “H6” spy.
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In February 2023, a Chinese businessman was banned from entry and then banned from British territory for reasons of national security. Designated by the code name “H6” in the legal documents available for consultation (his identity was until now protected), the 50-year-old man is suspected of being a Chinese spy. H6, however, maintained close ties for several years with Prince Andrew of England, second son of the late Queen Elizabeth. He was said to have been one of the Duke of York's “confidants” until being banished.
The man had since appealed the entry ban to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). But the court validated its decision this Thursday, revealing in its court decision his relationship with Prince Andrew. According to the institution, documents were discovered on his personal devices during the investigation, including correspondence with one of Prince Andrew's advisors as well as correspondence with the work department of the Beijing United Front, a branch of the Chinese state.
“I didn’t do anything wrong”
This Monday, December 16, however, he denied the accusations against him. “I have done nothing wrong or illegal and the concerns raised by the Home Office about me are unfounded. The description that has been widely made of me as a 'spy' is completely false,” the man said in a statement.
At the same time, he reveals his identity, hitherto kept secret: his name is Tengbo Yang. He presents himself as an “independent entrepreneur”, claims to have “dedicated his professional life in the United Kingdom to building links between British and Chinese companies”. “My activities have helped attract hundreds of millions of pounds of investment to the United Kingdom,” the man defended.
Acting on behalf of the prince in China
“You should never underestimate the strength of this relationship. Apart from your closest internal confidants, you are sitting at the top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on,” assures the advisor. Andrew in a 2020 letter, published as part of the SIAC decision and seen by Euronews. “Under your advice, we found a way to get the relevant people in and out of the house in Windsor unnoticed,” the advisor claims in the letter to H6, who had just been invited to the prince's birthday party. Another letter authorizes him to act on behalf of the prince in an international financial initiative with potential partners and investors in China. Another document dated August 24, 2021 claims that the royal family was in a “desperate situation and will hold on to anything.”
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In their final decision, the SIAC judges concluded that H6 could have used his influence over the Duke of York, and found him in a position to “create relationships between senior Chinese officials and British figures that could be exploited to for the purposes of political interference by the Chinese state. The judgment found that Tengbo Yang had “gained a significant degree, one might say an unusual degree, of trust from a high-ranking member of the royal family who was prepared to engage in business activities with him”, details the daily British The Guardian.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the matter, noting that the prince was no longer a working member of the royal family, with his patronages and military ties having been cut in 2022. Withdrew from the royal family for his closeness to the deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, the Duke of York, has once again made the headlines in the scandal tabloids in recent days. According to British media, the brother of King Charles III will not join the rest of the royal family for Christmas in the royal residence of Sandringham, unlike other years.
“This is just the tip of the iceberg” of Chinese espionage
Questioned on BBC 4 radio, Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith said on Friday December 13 that this affair was only “the tip of the iceberg”. According to this personality critical of China, the work department of the United Front of Beijing, responsible for establishing links with influential figures in the four corners of the world, has in its pay more than 40,000 agents in the world. “The fact is that there are many other people like him in the UK and the fact that he left the UK shows that he realized that at one point or another , he was going to get caught,” he said again. For Mr. Duncan Smith, “the reality is very simple: China represents a very clear threat.” He also indicated his wish to ask an “urgent” question to Parliament on the subject.
Asked about the Affair last Monday, Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the government was “worried” about the “challenges posed by China”. However, he recently called for stronger trade cooperation between the United Kingdom and China. He spoke with President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit last month, making him the first British prime minister since 2018 to meet Xi in person. Since coming to power in July, Keir Starmer's government has accelerated a diplomatic thaw with China, after years of tensions linked to the situation in Hong Kong in particular. The Labor leader, however, refused to comment on the affair of suspicions of espionage targeting a relative of Prince Andrew.
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Labor Party ministers are currently under pressure to set a timetable for relaunching the “foreign influence registration system”, the FIRS (a national security system which requires registration of any person or organization coming to the UK on behalf of a foreign government), which had been delayed until next year, and to put China in the “enhanced” category of threats, which would trigger increased surveillance of its representatives on the territory.
Unease continues to grow within Parliament over the government's approach to China. “Five new Labor MPs have joined the China-sceptic group – the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China,” says the Guardian. Within the conservative opposition and especially the far right, we denounce a weakness in the face of China, and a lack of measures which could endanger the national security of the United Kingdom.
Tengbo Yang, for his part, considers himself the “victim” of a “change in political climate” and a tension in diplomatic relations. “When relations are good and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in the UK. When relations deteriorate, they give rise to an anti-China stance and I find myself excluded,” he said. denounced.
