An alleged Chinese spy who forged a close relationship with Prince Andrew has been identified by a British court, the latest twist in a case that has shone a light on Beijing’s influence inside Britain’s institutions.
The man, Yang Tengbo, was identified after a judge ruled his anonymity should be removed, PA Media reported on Monday.
Yang, who also went by the name Chris Yang, was described in a separate court hearing last week as developing an “unusual degree of trust” with the younger brother of King Charles.
He was the co-founder of Pitch@Palace China, which expanded into China an initiative for entrepreneurs that was set up by Andrew in 2014.
In a tribunal hearing on Thursday that upheld an earlier decision to bar Yang from the UK, it was revealed that he was authorized to act on Andrew’s behalf during business meetings with potential Chinese investors in the UK, and that he was invited to Andrew’s 60th birthday party in 2020.
Yang has appeared in pictures and videos with Andrew during Pitch@Palace events.
Yang said in a statement he had “done nothing wrong or unlawful,” and that the “widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue,” PA Media said.
Andrew’s office said last week that the prince ceased his relationship with Yang after receiving government advice. “The Duke met the individual through official channels with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed,” his office said. “He is unable to comment further on matters relating to national security.”
The case has once again led to questions about the judgement and associations of Andrew, whose role in the royal family has diminished since his friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein came to light five years ago.
But concern over China’s influence in Britain’s politics and institutions has been steadily mounting in Westminster in recent years, and the case is just the latest example of an alleged infiltration by Beijing.
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee released a report in 2023 outlining its view that China was seeking to target and influence people in the UK’s political system.
Yang is alleged to have worked for China’s United Front Work Department (UFWD), a branch of the ruling Communist Party tasked with gaining influence both at home and overseas. The report described the UFWD – as working to “ensure that politicians and high-profile figures in foreign states are supportive of the CCP, or at the very least do not criticise China or counter its narrative.”
A statement published online by a spokesperson from the Chinese Embassy said that the situation underscored “anti-China clamours made by a handful of UK MPs” who had “done nothing but fully revealed their twisted mentality towards China.”
“What they are really up to is to smear China, target against the Chinese community in the UK and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK. We strongly condemn this,” the statement said.
‘Tip of the iceberg’
Yang joins a growing number of people who have been accused of spying on behalf of China from inside the heart of Britain’s institutions.
Two men, one of them a parliamentary researcher, are awaiting trial after being charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act on behalf of China, which they deny.
And in 2022 the MI5 spy agency warned lawmakers that Christine Lee, a woman connected to the Chinese Communist Party, had been working to interfere in the UK political process.
Former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, who raised the incident in an urgent question in the House of Commons on Monday, told the BBC the case was “the tip of the iceberg.”
“The reality is that there are many, many more involved in exactly this kind of espionage that’s taking place,” he said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Monday: “Of course we are concerned about the challenge that China poses.”
But the Yang case led to renewed scrutiny on Monday over his stance on Beijing. Starmer in November became the first prime minister to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping for six years, and reiterated Monday: “Our approach is one of engagement, of co-operating where we need to co-operate, particularly on issues like climate change, to challenge where we must and where we should, particularly on issues like human rights and to compete when it comes to trade.”
During the Monday parliamentary debate, the government was also accused of being slow to implement a new foreign influence registration scheme (FIRS) scheme, first planned by the previous Conservative government, which is aimed at increasing transparency and reducing the risk of overseas interference in Britain. It was initially set to be implemented this year, but has been delayed until the middle of 2025.
A Labour MP, who is part of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China that Duncan Smith set up, told CNN the response within Parliament to the Yang case was “shock, but not surprise.”
“You can’t fudge the geopolitics of China, and all the implications for trade and industrial strategy and defense for very long,” the MP added, in a nod to criticism over Starmer’s approach. “I don’t think it’s possible to have your cake and eat it in this world.”
Shawn Deng contributed reporting.
