Prince Andrew's Chinese partner banished from UK for security risk

Prince Andrew's Chinese partner banished from UK for security risk

A Chinese businessman who had close connections to Prince Andrew Looking for investors in China was excluded from Great Britain for national security reasons.

Details of exclusion

The 50-year-old man who wants to remain anonymous and is only referred to as H6 was picked up from a flight from Beijing to London in February 2023 and informed that Britain intended to show him from the country. This happened in the following month.

rejection of the appeal

H6 made an appeal against the ban on entry at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), the decision of which was published in a written judgment on Thursday. This was the first time that the reported relationship became known.

connection with Prince Andrew

Buckingham Palace no longer commented on matters that affect Prince Andrew, which was released by royal tasks in 2022. Reuters could not reach him or one of his representatives for a comment.

The exclusion of the Chinese businessman was the result of investigations that were carried out in 2021 at a British border crossing under anti-terrorist laws. The content of his cell phone was secured, which apparently showed that Prince Andrew had commissioned him to found an international financial initiative to get in touch with potential partners and investors in China. The purpose of the fund was not explained in more detail in the judgment.

connections to the China's Communist Party

documents on his cell phone indicated that H6 had deliberately covered his connections to the China's Communist Party and the United Front Work Department. The judgment found that he was able to build relationships between prominent British personalities and high -ranking Chinese officials that could be exploited by Beijing.

The United Front Work Department is described as a network of groups, which the Chinese leader Xi Jinping describes as a "magical tool" for strengthening Beijing's influence abroad.

reactions of the Chinese message

In an explanation, the Chinese embassy in London commented on the topic and said that some people in the UK were interested in inventing "all kinds of spy stories against China". "The purpose of these stories is to slander China and to sabotage the normal exchange between China and the United Kingdom.

invitation to the birthday party

The decision of SIAC revealed a letter from a high -ranking advisor from Andrew to H6 from March 2020, which was said that H6 was invited to Andrew's birthday party this month. In the letter it said: "I also hope that you realize where you are in the hierarchy of my client and family."

It is mentioned that after a meeting between Andrew, H6 and the consultant, "wise" had navigated for former private secretaries and found a way to carefully deduct people whom they did not fully trust.

background to Prince Andrew

Prince Andrew, 64 years old and the eighth in the succession of the throne, worked as a trade ambassador of the United Kingdom from 2001 to 2011. Because of his friendship with the late US sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, he had to withdraw from all public offices in 2019. Andrew has always rejected all allegations of misconduct. In 2022 he lost his military connections and royal sponsorships.

privileged relationships

The SIAC's judgment refers to a document from 2021 that was restored by H6S device and listed the discussion points for a call between him and Andrew. It said that the prince is "in a desperate location and clinging to everything". In his judgment, judge Charles Bourne found that H6 had "a significant degree of trust, one could say an unusual level of trust from a high -ranking member of the royal family who was ready to enter into business activities". He added that the pressure situation in which the Duke was located could make him vulnerable to the abuse of such influences.

Bourne found that the British Ministry of the Interior was entitled to conclude that H6 had significant connections to the China's Communist Party and United Front Work Department and that he could "use" its connection to Andrew.