Released on: 16/12/2024 – 19:24Changed: 16/12/2024 – 19:22

3 minutes

Amid the fallout from a new scandal, British media reported that Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson would not be joining their brother King Charles III and the royal family at Sandringham for Christmas this year.

Last week, details emerged of Andrew’s relationship with Yang Tengbo, a businessman and alleged spy, who had been banned from Britain.

The growing furore over the case raised an urgent question in the British parliament and drew comments from Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a visit to Norway.

“We are of course concerned about the challenge that China poses,” Starmer said during a press conference with his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Store in Bergen, but he defended his approach of “engagement” with Beijing.

“Our approach is one of engagement, to cooperate where we need to cooperate, particularly, for example, on issues like climate change, to challenge where we must and where we should,” he added.

In a statement on Monday, Yang Tengbo, who was reportedly once invited to Andrew’s birthday party, insisted he had “done nothing wrong or illegal”. He called the claims “baseless” and said he had “fallen victim” to a changing “political climate”.

“The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is completely untrue,” Yang added, noting that he had chosen to waive his anonymity and was appealing the decision in Britain.

‘Proportional’

Judges on Thursday upheld a ban on Yang entering the UK, saying the government was “entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate”.

In the judgment which had referred to Yang only as H6, the judges judged that he was in a position to “create relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent British figures which could be exploited for political interference purposes by the Chinese state”.

The Sunday Times reported that Yang had also met former Conservative prime ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.

“When relations are good, and Chinese investment is sought, I am welcome in Britain. When relations turn sour, an anti-China stance is taken, and I am excluded,” Yang said in his statement.

The scandal has emerged as Starmer, who took power in July, bids to restore ties with Beijing.

Last month, he became the first British prime minister since 2018 to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Tip of the iceberg”

Opposition Conservatives, including its former leader Iain Duncan Smith – one of Britain’s most prominent China-sceptic voices – have criticized him over the strategy.

Duncan Smith claimed on Monday that Yang’s fall was just the “tip of the iceberg” of Beijing’s espionage activities in the UK.

However, Foreign Secretary David Lammy insisted the government was alive to individuals who “posed a threat”.

“We recognize the threat, we have raised it with the Chinese government, and we will act wherever we need to,” he told a news conference in London.

“Unfortunately, this case does not exist in a vacuum,” Lammy added.

“The UK is in the most complex threat environment we have seen for a very significant time, including terrorism and states – including China, Iran and Russia – that pose a threat to us,” he added.

Prince Andrew’s reputation was already in tatters over his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which saw him forced to step back from frontline royal duties and stripped of his military honours.

A statement from Andrews’ office last week said he had “followed advice” from the government and “ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised”.

“The Duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed,” it added.

When asked about reports that Andrew and his ex-wife would not attend the traditional Christmas gathering at Sandringham, Buckingham Palace said: “We do not speak for the Duke of York”.

Last year, Sarah joined the royal Christmas celebrations for the first time since she and Andrew split in the 1990s.

© 2024 AFP