Alleged Chinese spy linked to Prince Andrew finally named as anonymity order lifted

Lifting the order, Justice Chamberlain said: “For the avoidance of doubt, the claimant's name Tengbo Yang can now be reported in connection to these proceedings.”

The alleged Chinese spy who has been barred from entering the UK, was previously only referred to as H6 due to a court order protecting his identity.

Yang Tengbo was stopped and questioned by UK border police officers in November 2021, when he also surrendered a number of electronic devices including a mobile phone.

In March 2023, he was banned entry into the UK by the then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

He then brought his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, a court set up to consider appeals against decisions to ban or remove someone from the country on national security or related grounds.

In the published ruling, external, the judges upheld Braverman's decision.

In a statement issued on his behalf, Yang said he had done “nothing wrong or unlawful” and descriptions of him as an alleged spy were “entirely untrue”.

The statement said he had voluntarily waived his right to anonymity.

Yang said: “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.

“This is why I applied for a review of the Home Office decision in the first place, and why I am seeking permission to appeal the SIAC decision. It is also why an order extending my anonymity up to the point of determination of the appeal process was granted.

“I have been excluded from seeing most of the evidence that was used against me under a process which is widely acknowledged by SIAC practitioners as inherently unfair: decisions are made based on secret evidence and closed proceedings, which has been described as ‘taking blind shots at a hidden target’.

“On their own fact finding, even the three judges in this case concluded that there was ‘not an abundance of evidence’ against me, their decision was ‘finely balanced’, and there could be an ‘innocent explanation’ for my activities. This has not been reported in the media.

“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.

“I am an independent self-made entrepreneur and I have always aimed to foster partnerships and build bridges between East and West. I have dedicated my professional life in the UK to building links between British and Chinese businesses. My activities have played a part in bringing hundreds of millions of pounds of investment into the UK.

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“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.”

Yang, 50, the former chair of Hampton Group, had been in the UK for almost two decades.

In a statement on Friday, Andrew’s office said he had stopped all contact with the man, whom he had met through “official channels” with “nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed”.