Dennis Gaviola

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<p>LONDON, United Kingdom — A former UK security minister said Friday that it was &quot;extremely embarrassing&quot; that a suspected Chinese spy had become a confidant of disgraced royal Prince Andrew.</p><p>The story dominated the UK&#x27;s front pages on Friday, the latest humiliation for a prince whose reputation is already in tatters over his ties to accused sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.</p><p>Judges on Thursday upheld a ban on the businessman, identified only as H6, from entering the country, and said the prince&#x27;s troubles had left him &quot;vulnerable&quot; to exploitation.</p><p>In the ruling, judges assessed H6 was in a position to &quot;generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent UK figures which could be leveraged for political interference purposes by the Chinese State&quot;</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/7/taiwanese-soldiers-charged-with-spying-for-china-1226">Taiwanese soldiers charged with spying for China</a></div><p>Asked whether the prince&#x27;s advisers should have been more alert to the danger, former minister of state for security Tom Tugendhat told the BBC that &quot;it&#x27;s not quite as black and white as it may first appear — but it&#x27;s certainly extremely embarrassing&quot;.</p><p>The tribunal heard that the prince&#x27;s aide Dominic Hampshire told the suspected spy that he could help in potential dealings with Chinese investors.</p><p>&quot;Outside of his (Andrew&#x27;s) closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on,&quot; Hampshire told H6 in a 2020 letter.</p><p>H6 also received an invitation to the prince&#x27;s birthday party.Former interior minister Suella Braverman banned H6 from entering the country in 2023 after her ministry found he had engaged in &quot;covert and deceptive activity&quot; on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).</p><p>The tribunal upheld the ban on Thursday, ruling that Braverman &quot;was entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate&quot;.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2024/11/26/-a-monster-hontiveros-bares-pogo-ties-to-china-espionage-disinformation-ops-1156">&#x27;A monster&#x27;: Hontiveros bares POGO ties to China &#x27;espionage, disinformation&#x27; ops<br/></a></div><p>Andrew withdrew from frontline royal duties in late 2019 after public outrage over a BBC television interview in which he defended his friendship with Epstein.</p><p>The former Royal Navy helicopter pilot, 64, in February 2022 settled a US civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 17.</p><p>Andrew&#x27;s mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, stripped him of his honorary military titles and patronages soon afterward, effectively shutting him out of royal life.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>The story dominated the UK's front pages on Friday, the latest humiliation for a prince whose reputation is already in tatters over his ties to accused sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.</p>

The story dominated the UK's front pages on Friday, the latest humiliation for a prince whose reputation is already in tatters over his ties to accused sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Chinese spy claims add to Prince Andrew's woes

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Chinese spy claims add to Prince Andrew's woes

Agence France-Presse

Published December 13, 2024 06:32 PM PHT

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United Kingdom

China

Prince Andrew

Spying

Espionage

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