Alleged Chinese spy named in UK as Yang Tengbo, denies wrongdoing

London, Dec 16 (PTI) An alleged Chinese spy who managed to gain access to Buckingham Palace as a “close confidant” of Prince Andrew was on Monday named as Yang Tengbo, who went on to issue a statement denying any wrongdoing and asserting that he would never do anything to harm the interests of the UK as his “second home”.

The High Court in London lifted restrictions on naming the businessman, known only as H6 until now, due to a “high level of speculation and misreporting in the media". It came as a member of Parliament, Richard Tice of Reform UK, threatened to use his parliamentary privilege to reveal the identity of H6 in the House of Commons if the anonymity order was not lifted.

"Due to the high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere, I have asked my legal team to disclose my identity," Tengbo said in a statement following the Royal Courts of Justice order.

“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,” he said.

The businessman claimed he had been excluded from seeing most of the evidence that was used against him by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) which had reviewed his exclusion order from the UK by the Home Office last year on espionage charges.

Describing himself as an “independent self-made entrepreneur”, Tengbo said: “The political climate has changed, and unfortunately, I have fallen victim to this. When relations are good, and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in the UK. When relations sour, an anti-China stance is taken, and I am excluded.

“My activities have played a part in bringing hundreds of millions of pounds of investment into the UK. I built my private life in the UK over two decades and love the country as my second home. I would never do anything to harm the interests of the UK." It follows days of speculation after his lost SIAC appeal against the Home Office order, in which a judge noted that H6 had an "unusual" degree of trust from Prince Andrew, King Charles III’s younger brother. Over the weekend it emerged that the businessman had also met former prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May, both of whom sought to distance themselves from the scandal as having no detailed knowledge of the individual.

A spokesperson for Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, said last week: "The Duke of York followed advice from HMG [His Majesty’s Government] and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised. The Duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed. He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security." Meanwhile, Opposition Conservative Party MP and former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith tabled an urgent question on the matter in the Commons on Monday saying the alleged Chinese spy who was banned from entering the UK could be one of many operating "in plain view".

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said that the Labour government was "concerned about the challenge that China poses". PTI AK SCY SCY