Chinese Man Banned From UK After Having ‘Unusual Degree of Trust’ With Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, in Windsor, England, on April 11, 2021. Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images

A 50-year-old Chinese national who formed an “unusual degree of trust” with Prince Andrew has lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds.

A ruling by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), published on Thursday, said that the man, known only as H6, was in a position to “generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials” for political interference purposes by the Chinese regime.

The Chinese national was described as a “close confidant” of Prince Andrew but had not provided an open account of his relationship with the duke.

The ruling also said that he had “sometimes deliberately obscured his links with the Chinese State, the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] and the UFWD [United Front Work Department].”

This, combined with his relationship with the duke, represented a threat to national security, the document said.

Security Risk

When he brought a case to the SIAC after then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman said he should be banned from entering the UK in March 2023, H6 said the decision was “unlawful.”

However, the Thursday ruling said that Braverman was “entitled to conclude that [H6] represented a risk to the national security of the United Kingdom, and that she was entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate.”

Judges Charles Bourne, Stephen Smith, and Sir Stewart Eldon said the pressures on the duke could have made him “vulnerable” to misuse of the influence H6 had.

“The applicant won a significant degree, one could say an unusual degree, of trust from a senior member of the Royal Family who was prepared to enter into business activities with him,” the judges said.

They clarified that the ruling doesn’t mean that any Chinese businessman who forms a commercial relationship with the duke or any other member of the royal family can be banned from the UK.

‘Second Home’

H6, who described Britain as his “second home,” came to the UK in 2022 to study and completed a master’s degree at the University of York.

The three judges said, “He has settled status, a home and extensive business interests in the United Kingdom.”

The ruling said that H6 had founded a business in the UK that provided consulting to British-based companies on their affairs in China.

Although his lawyers argued that H6 avoided getting involved in politics and has no connections to anyone in politics in China, the 53-page document said that he was “frequently connected to officials associated with the Chinese State.”

Close Relationship

In November 2021, H6 was stopped at a UK port and his digital devices were taken away under the provisions of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

A hearing in July heard that a letter referencing the birthday party from the duke’s adviser, Dominic Hampshire, was found on one of the devices.

In the letter, Hampshire said that H6 could act on the duke’s behalf in engagements with potential partners and investors in China.

The letter also said: “I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal 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 judges said that while banning H6 from the UK would not necessarily halt his activities, it would significantly hinder them.

“Cultivating relationships with prominent UK individuals would logically be much more difficult if no meetings could take place in the UK,” they concluded.

PA Media contributed to this report.