High Court Names Alleged Chinese Spy and Duke of York’s ‘Close Confidant’

The Duke of York speaks during a Pitch@Palace event, an initiative launched in 2014 to support entrepreneurs, at St. James's Palace in London on Dec. 12, 2019. John Stilwell/PA

The Royal Courts of Justice has lifted the anonymity order on naming the Chinese national linked to the Duke of York and banned from entering the UK on national security grounds.

Following a court hearing on Monday, the 50-year-old man was named as Yang Tengbo.

Previously known only as H6, Yang has been described as a “close confidant” of Prince Andrew. He had founded a business in the UK that provided consulting to British-based companies on their affairs in China.

A ruling by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) last week found that Yang was in a position to “generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials” for political interference purposes by the Chinese regime.

After the High Court lifted an order granting him anonymity, Yang said in a statement: “Due to the high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere, I have asked my legal team to disclose my identity.

“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.”

His defence told the court that there has been an “enormous amount of media reporting” on the case and particularly in relation to Yang’s links to Prince Andrew.

Yang has been pictured with other senior figures in the UK, including former prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.

Commenting on whether Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer or other ministers had met with Yang, a Downing Street spokesman said: “I can’t comment on intelligence or security cases like this, it is a live legal case.”

Asked whether ministers have spoken to their Chinese counterparts about the case, the spokesman said that “ministers and officials engage with China the whole time,” and would “always take an approach to China that is rooted in UK interests.”

Ban and Anonymity Order

Yang, who has described Britain as his “second home,” worked as a junior civil servant in China before heading to the UK in 2002 to study. He was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2013.

He is the director of Hampton Group International, a consultancy firm that provides services to British-based companies in their affairs in China. Although his lawyers argued that Yang has no connections to anyone in politics in China, the SIAC ruling said that he was “frequently connected to officials associated with the Chinese State.”

Yang, also known as Christopher Yang, was the founder-partner of Pitch@Palace China, the Duke of York’s scheme to support entrepreneurs.

In July, Yang challenged his ban on entering the UK, enforced under former Home Secretary Suella Braverman in March, but lost his appeal.

The SIAC ruling said that Braverman was entitled to conclude that Yang “represented a risk” to UK national security and that his exclusion was justified and proportionate.

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

Lifting his anonymity on Monday, Mr. Justice Chamberlain said, “It seems to me that these proceedings now serve no further purpose.”

Undated file photo of former Conservative Party leader, MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith. Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA Media

Foreign Influence Registration Scheme

The High Court decision came amid calls by MPs to implement the enhanced foreign influence registration scheme (FIRS), which safeguards the UK political system and national security against covert foreign influence.

During a House of Commons session on Monday, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith asked for a government statement on the extent of UFWD operations within the UK.

In response, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said the government is “absolutely committed” to using the “full range of powers” available to stop individuals who pose a threat.

On Yang’s case, Jarvis said that given the potential for further litigation, it would not “be appropriate” to comment further.

The minister told MPs that Britain is now the most “complex threat environment we have ever seen,” including from terrorism and states including China, Russia, and Iran.

When asked whether the government will commit to putting China on FIRS, Jarvis said that Labour is working “at pace” to implement the scheme, with the aim of it going live by the summer.

Braverman told the Commons that Britain faces an “unprecedented threat by China,” including malicious cyberattacks, transnational repression, and human rights abuses.

Duncan Smith earlier suggested on social media platform X that the Yang case “has been about Prince Andrew,” but is much broader than that.

“It’s about the way the CCP is seeking to exert influence here in the United Kingdom,” he said, urging Prince Andrew to “be clear and honest” about his relationship with Yang.

Duncan Smith also called for a “proper investigation” of the case by the security services.

“The UK government crawling on their bellies in obedience. The Government doesn’t want to upset China because they’re ’so desperate' over the economy,” he suggested.

Starmer has admitted he had concerns about China but defended his approach to engaging with Beijing.

At a press conference in Norway on Monday, he said there is a “long-standing convention in the UK” that talks between Downing Street and the royal family are “never spoken about.”

“But of course we are concerned about the challenge that China poses. Our approach is one of engagement, of cooperating where we need to cooperate, 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.

“That’s the strategic approach that we have set out as a UK government,” Starmer added.

PA Media contributed to this report.