The alleged Chinese spy with links to Prince Andrew has said he did “nothing wrong or unlawful” – as he was named publicly for the first time.
In a statement, Yang Tengbo added that the “widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue”.
Politics live: What we know so far about Yang Tengbo
It comes after the High Court lifted restrictions on naming the businessman, previously described as a “close confidant” of the royal, on Monday afternoon.
Until now he was only known publicly as “H6” after a court imposed an anonymity order.
Mr Yang said he asked his legal team to disclose his identity “due to the high level of speculation and misreporting in the media”.
Last week, he lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds.
Mr Yang said: “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 claimed he was a victim of a “political climate” which had seen a rise in tensions between the UK and China.
“When relations are good, and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in the UK,” he said.
“When relations sour, an anti-China stance is taken, and I am excluded.”
Mr Yang has links to the Duke of York
Mr Yang was the founder-partner of Pitch@Palace China. The Pitch@Palace initiative was the Duke of York’s scheme to support entrepreneurs.
Pressure had been mounting for Mr Yang to be named after last week’s court ruling.
Richard Tice, the deputy leader of Reform UK, had threatened to use parliamentary privilege to reveal his identity in the House of Commons.
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Parliamentary privilege allows MPs to speak freely during parliamentary proceedings without fear of legal action.
Guy Vassall-Adams KC, for Mr Yang, told the High Court that threats to name his client in parliament were part of the reason he decided to apply to lift the anonymity order.
He said: “There has been an enormous amount of media reporting in relation to this story, and particularly in relation to the relationship between my client, H6, and Prince Andrew, as well as a huge amount of speculation about the identity of my client.”
Lifting his anonymity, Judge Mr Justice Chamberlain said: “It seems to me that these proceedings now serve no further purpose.”
Yang Tengbo with Theresa May and her husband Philip
Yang pictured with former prime ministers
Mr Yang was invited to Prince Andrew’s birthday party in 2020, and was told by royal aide Dominic Hampshire he could act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China, a tribunal heard in July this year.
On Friday, Prince Andrew said he “ceased all contact” with the Chinese businessman.
In a statement from his office, the Duke of York said he had cut ties following “advice” from officials but insisted the pair had never discussed anything of a “sensitive nature”.
Mr Yang had previously also been pictured alongside former prime ministers – including David Cameron and Theresa May.
Both Lord Cameron and Lady May’s spokespeople told Sky News at the weekend they meet and are photographed with many people each year.
A spokeswoman for Ms May said: “Baroness May and her husband, Sir Philip, are photographed at numerous events in any given year.
“As such, she doesn’t remember when or where this particular photograph was taken or the man in question.”
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Who is alleged Chinese spy?
A source close to Lord Cameron said: “David Cameron was leader of the Conservative Party for over a decade and PM for six years.
“He met thousands of people in that time at hundreds of functions and events. We don’t have any further information about this individual.”
China ‘UK’s most prominent security threat’
The anonymity lift came shortly before former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith raised an urgent question in the Commons about the Chinese spying group Mr Yang is said to belong to, the United Front Work Department (UFWD).
Sir Iain said Mr Yang was “not a lone wolf” and one of around 40,000 members of the UFWD.
He called for China to be put on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme (FIRS), which was established under the Conservatives but is yet to be implemented.
The scheme would require those involved in promoting the interests of other countries to declare themselves – but it won’t commence until the summer, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis has confirmed.
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Sir Iain said there is “no need for delay”, and that the new Labour government must “accept now that China is our most prominent security threat”.
Mr Jarvis acknowledged the case of Mr Yang “does not exist in a vacuum” and the UK is facing a breadth of “pernicious and complex” threats from foreign states.
He echoed comments made by Sir Keir Starmer earlier, who defended his approach for a “pragmatic” relationship with Beijing despite saying it posed a “challenge”.
Yang statement ‘not worth paper it’s written on’
Professor Anthony Glees, an intelligence and security expert from the University of Buckingham, told Sky News that Prince Andrew “unbeknown to himself” has “been a risk to our national security”.
He said Mr Yang’s statement is “not worth the paper it was written on” and that hostile states using “long-term penetration” lasting decades is common.
He added: “In fact, there is an intelligence law in China that says that every member of the Communist Party of China has a duty to accept intelligence tasking if the state demands it of them.”
Lord Patten, the former governor of Hong Kong, also told Sky News he was “not quite sure where cooperation has got us” with regards to the UK’s approach to China.
He said that while he doubted Mr Yang held “huge influence” over anyone significant, his case was nevertheless “an indication of the extent to which” alleged agents can access places of power in the UK.
And he said the UFWD was an organisation that “has got lots of people in this country trying to influence policymakers”.
A spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “China has always acted in an upright and honest manner and has never engaged in any deception or interference, so it is not worthwhile to refute this kind of groundless speculation which is based on one’s own judgement.”
