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The UK’s semi-secret national security court has upheld a decision to ban an alleged Chinese spy from re-entering the country after he formed an “unusual degree of trust” with Prince Andrew. The man, known only as H6, brought an appeal against his ban in March 2023. He had reportedly received an invite to Prince Andrew’s birthday party in 2020 and was instructed he could act on the prince’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China. Buckingham Palace declined to comment, stating only that they do not represent the non-working royal.
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, heard the case. In the ruling, the judge stated that the then-home secretary, Suella 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”. The man had reportedly been investigated at the highest levels of national security as someone the UK’s intelligence agencies feared was seeking influence over a member of the Royal Family.
The man was believed to have been stopped and questioned at the UK border, during which he surrendered a number of electronic devices, including a mobile phone. Concerns related to what officers found on the devices prompted the Security Service MI5 to recommend banning H6 from the country. A letter found on one of the devices confirmed H6 could act for Prince Andrew in talks “with potential partners and investors in China”. A document listing “main talking points” for a call with Prince Andrew was also discovered. It states: “IMPORTANT: Manage expectations. Really important to not set ‘too high’ expectations – he is in a desperate situation and will grab onto anything.”
Security chiefs feared Beijing was attempting to run an “elite capture” operation to influence the Duke of York because of the pressure he was under, a tactic which aims to appoint high profile individuals to Chinese businesses, think tanks or universities. H6 was subsequently informed that he was believed by UK authorities to be associated with the United Front Work Department (UFWD), an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tasked with conducting influence operations. The ruling said MI5’s Director General, Ken McCallum had expressed concern about the threat posed to the UK by political interference by China and that bodies such as the UFWD were “mounting patient, well-funded, deceptive campaigns to buy and exert influence”.
Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, commented on Prince Andrew’s association with the Chinese businessman, describing it as “extremely embarrassing”. Tugendhat stated that China has “engaged very often in espionage” and that the UFWD was seeking influence in the UK across social, academic, industrial and financial sectors
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