China says Prince Andrew spy scandal is just a smear

LONDON — The Chinese government accused “twisted” British MPs of amping up the spy scandal engulfing Prince Andrew in a bid to harm relations between the two nations.

In its first statement on a row that has seen a Chinese national banned from the U.K. on national security grounds after building close ties with the top royal, the Chinese Embassy in London on Tuesday shrugged off criticism of a key overseas influence operation — and accused lawmakers of trying to “demonize” China.

“As for the anti-China clamors made by a handful of U.K. MPs, they have done nothing but fully revealed their twisted mentality towards China, as well as their arrogance and shamelessness,” an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson went on: “This is a typical case of a thief crying ‘catch thief.’ What they are really up to is to smear China, target against the Chinese community in the U.K. and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the U.K.”

Yang Tengbo, a 50-year-old Chinese national, was banned from the U.K. on national security grounds, court documents revealed last week show.

Described in the documents as a “close confidant” of King Charles III’s brother, Yang had been invited to receptions at Buckingham Palace and given permission to represent Prince Andrew in business deals. He was pictured with British Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May.

Yang said Monday that claims he spied for China are “entirely untrue” and added in a statement: “I have done nothing wrong or unlawful and the concerns raised by the Home Office against me are ill-founded.”

But Conservative hawks on China, including former Leader Iain Duncan Smith, sounded the alarm about excessive Chinese influence in Britain — and took aim at Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s bid to smooth relations with Beijing after years in the deep freezer under the Conservatives. A U.K. audit of British-China relations is due to wrap up early next year.

“The reality is that there are many, many more involved in exactly this kind of espionage that’s taking place,” Duncan Smith said Monday. “The reality for us is very simple — China is a very clear threat.”

That was given short shrift by the Chinese Embassy Tuesday. “We urge the U.K. side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchanges between China and the U.K.,” the spokesperson said.

The embassy also insisted that the United Front Works Department, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which seeks to further influence abroad and to which Yang reportedly had links, was simply an outreach body.

“The United Front led by the CPC endeavors to bring together various political parties and people from all walks of life, ethnic groups and organizations to promote cooperation between the CPC and people who are not members of it and promote people-to-people exchanges and friendship with other countries,” the spokesperson said.

“This is above-board and beyond reproach. Though some U.K. politicians attempted to demonise China’s United Front work, they are doomed to fail.”

Responding Tuesday, Starmer’s official spokesperson told journalists the government is committed to using its “full range of powers” to disrupt people who threaten Britain’s national security.

“We will always take an approach to these things that is rooted in the national interest and puts national security and public safety first,” the British prime minister’s spokesperson said.

Andrew McDonald contributed reporting.