China slams UK spying claims against businessman as 'preposterous'
Beijing has rejected allegations that a Chinese businessman used his connections with Britain's Prince Andrew to spy for Beijing, following escalating concerns from the UK government over the claims.
![China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian addresses a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. / Photo: MOFA, China China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian addresses a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. / Photo: MOFA, China](https://images-cdn.trtworld.com/trtworld/w664/h374/q70/21315118_0-0-1917-1080.jpeg)
China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Lin Jian addresses a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. / Photo: MOFA, China
China on Tuesday said claims that a Chinese businessman had used his links with Britain's Prince Andrew to spy for Beijing were "preposterous", after the UK government voiced mounting concerns over the allegations.
"Accusations of so-called Chinese espionage are preposterous," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said, adding that strong ties with London were "in the common interests of both countries".
British media last week reported about Andrew's relationship with Yang Tengbo, a businessman, who had been banned from entering Britain on allegations of posing a "national security risk".
Asked about the case while on a visit to Norway, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain was "concerned about the challenge that China poses" but defended his approach of "engagement" with Beijing.
"The development of China-UK relations is in the common interests of both countries and is also conducive to promoting world economic growth and responding to global challenges," Lin Jian said addressing a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
"It is hoped that the United Kingdom will work with China to accumulate more positive factors and demonstrate the two countries' innate character of cooperation, mutual benefits and common wins," he added.
Earlier, in two separate statements released on December 13 and December 17, the Chinese Embassy in London also denounced what it described as fabricated accusations, political manipulation, and the demonization of China’s legitimate activities.
"This is a typical case of a thief crying 'catch thief'. What they are really up to is to smear China, targeting the Chinese community in the UK and undermine normal personnel exchanges between China and the UK. We strongly condemn this," the embassy spokesperson said in the December 17 statement.
The embassy accused certain British politicians of attempting to discredit China’s political system and undermine normal people-to-people exchanges between the two nations.
Yang, who was reportedly once invited to Andrew's birthday party, said in a statement on Monday that he had "done nothing wrong or unlawful", and had "fallen victim" to a changing "political climate".
"The widespread description of me as a 'spy' is entirely untrue," Yang added, noting he had opted to waive his anonymity and was appealing against the UK decision.
Starmer said at a news conference in Bergen, Norway, that Britain's approach towards China involved "cooperating where we need to cooperate, particularly, for example, on issues like climate change, to challenge where we must and where we should".
On Thursday, British judges upheld a ban on Yang entering the country on the grounds that the government had been "entitled to conclude that his exclusion was justified and proportionate".
The ruling, in which Yang was referred to only as H6, said he was well placed to "generate relationships between senior Chinese officials and prominent UK figures which could be leveraged for political interference purposes by the Chinese State".
Britain's Sunday Times newspaper 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 the UK. When relations sour, an anti-China stance is taken, and I am excluded," Yang said in his statement.
EU sanctions 'smearing' Chinese firms: Beijing
Beijing, meanwhile, also accused the EU on Tuesday of "smearing" Chinese firms after the bloc sanctioned companies from China for supplying Russia's military in the war on Ukraine.
China will "take the necessary measures to resolutely protect the proper and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises", Lin Jian said.
The European Union added four Chinese companies to a blacklist on Monday for allegedly "supplying sensitive drone components and microelectronic components" to the Russian military.
Two other firms and one Chinese businesswoman were hit for circumventing EU sanctions aimed at stopping equipment flowing to Moscow.
The EU has targeted Chinese firms before for supporting Russia's military, but Monday's sanctions were the toughest yet.
Lin said on Tuesday the sanctions were "without basis in international law". "When it comes to Ukraine, China has always done its best to promote peace talks, and has never provided weapons to the parties involved in the conflict," Lin said.
Beijing urges the EU to "stop smearing and blaming China without any factual basis", he added. China presents itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side, unlike the United States and other Western nations.