Image source, SUPPLIED

We began the afternoon only knowing the alleged Chinese spy who was banned from the UK in 2023 - and who had links to the Duke of York - as "H6".

We now know that man as Yang Tengbo, a 50-year-old businessman with a master's degree from the University of York who founded a "travel services" business in the UK back in 2005.

The suspected spy - who also goes by Chris Yang - was granted indefinite leave to remain back in 2013, but less than 10 years later, he was stopped at the UK border.

By July 2023, then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman banned Yang from the country, writing in her decision that he was "not deemed to be conducive to the public good”.

Yang, who agreed to have his anonymity lifted, said in a statement today that he's done "nothing wrong" and descriptions of him as an alleged spy were "entirely untrue".

Shortly after the suspected spy was identified, royal sources told the BBC that Prince Andrew - who has been described as forming an "unusual degree of trust" with Yang - will not join the Royal Family at Sandringham for Christmas.

We're going to be ending our coverage for the day, but you can continue digging into this story by reading our main news story or checking out this explainer that explores who Yang is and how he is linked to Prince Andrew.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Earlier on, we reported on how Yang Tengbo had been banned from visiting the UK because of alleged associations with a group known as the United Front - a branch of the Chinese Communist Party.

If you’d like to know more about the Chinese organisation that Yang is alleged to have been working for, you can watch Jane Corbin’s investigation into ‘China’s Magic Weapon’ on BBC iPlayer now.

Why Prince Andrew's relationship with a Chinese businessman is driving headlinespublished at 18:15 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2024

18:15 GMT 16 December 2024

published at 18:15 16 December 2024

18:15 16 December 2024

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

What has really fascinated people about this story hasn’t just been the allegations that Prince Andrew was being targeted by a Chinese influence operation.

What made it even more surprising was the insight it gave into how the prince was seen by those claimed to be trying to build links with him.

He is “in a desperate situation and will grab onto anything”, said a note found in the possession of the Chinese businessman, Yang Tengbo, according to court documents.

It suggests a sense of isolation as well as someone needing to find a way to get more funding.

The encouragement for Prince Andrew to move out of his Windsor mansion, and the removal of the King’s financial support, have been described in the media as the “Siege of Royal Lodge”.

He is a figure under financial pressure, who has been urged not to appear at a family occasion. It’s a big change from when he was globetrotting to meet entrepreneurs around the world as the UK’s trade envoy and running the Pitch@Palace scheme, with its Chinese offshoot.

That all might suggest why Prince Andrew might have been seen as vulnerable to business contacts with an ulterior agenda.

Although Prince Andrew has said that in his meetings with Yang Tengbo nothing of a sensitive nature was ever discussed.

The relationship between Yang Tengbo, the alleged spy with links to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and Prince Andrew developed at a time when the Duke of York was under "considerable pressure", judges examining Yang said.

That pressure may have made Prince Andrew "vulnerable to the misuse of that sort of influence," they wrote in their judgement.

The judges said Yang had enjoyed an "unusual degree of trust from a senior member of the Royal Family".

The Home Office previously said that they believed Yang was engaged in activity on behalf of the CCP and that his relationship with Prince Andrew could be political interference.

The prince came under fire in 2019 because of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the late US financier and sex offender.

In November 2019, Prince Andrew stepped back from royal duties amid growing public anger about his friendship with Epstein.

Questions were subsequently raised about his finances after he reached a settlement - believed to run into the millions - in a civil sexual assault case brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's accusers.

The prince has always denied assaulting Giuffre.

Royal Family hopes to avoid distraction on Christmas Daypublished at 17:35 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2024

17:35 GMT 16 December 2024

published at 17:35 16 December 2024

17:35 16 December 2024

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

Image source, Reuters

Prince Andrew is no longer a working royal – and Buckingham Palace no longer speaks for him.

But there was clearly some embarrassment for the Royal Family in Prince Andrew’s involvement in this controversy over Chinese influence operations.

It raised difficult questions about the finances and judgement of someone who is still going to be attending their family events, alongside other senior royals.

And by keeping away from Sandringham at Christmas, the royals, and presumably including Prince Andrew himself, will hope not to fuel the story any more with a public appearance.

The Christmas Day walk at the Sandringham church service is one of the classic annual royal moments – and there would have been concerns that Prince Andrew’s presence would have been the big talking point, overshadowing the occasion.

There had been reports that the prince was being privately urged to keep a low profile and volunteer not to attend the traditional gathering in Sandringham this year, so as to avoid being a distraction.

And now it sounds as though Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah will spend Christmas in Royal Lodge in Windsor.

Sarah, Duchess of York, will also not be joining the Royal Family at Sandringham for Christmas.

She and her ex-husband Prince Andrew are thought to be preparing to spend the day together at Royal Lodge, the home they still share.

We don't yet know whether Prince Andrew and his ex-wife will attend King Charles III's traditional pre-Christmas lunch for the extended family at Buckingham Palace on Thursday.

It's believed that their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who have young families, have already planned to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws this year for the first time.

In a statement, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that Beijing has "always acted with dignity and honesty, and never engaged in any deception or interference".

Laura Bicker
China correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Beijing has reacted with anger and disdain to any allegation that it is spying on the United Kingdom.

China’s Foreign Ministry last week said the country’s actions have been “above board” and denied any “deceitful actions or interference".

“I’d rather not comment on these baseless narratives,” says spokesperson Lin Jian.

In fact, Beijing has in the past year turned the tables and accused MI6 of persuading a Chinese couple to act as spies on their behalf.

They are trying to make the point that all sides engage in surveillance.

But the wider argument being put forward by some in Westminster is that China poses a grave threat to British interests.

This is the question at the very heart of UK-China relations: how to balance security concerns with business interests.

Beijing has accused the UK of simply following Washington instead of choosing its own way of dealing with China – a tactic state media described as “self-torture”.

There was some optimism here after the meeting between Prime Minister Kier Starmer and China’s President Xi Jinping that the new Labour government had decided to choose its own path and co-operate where the two countries interests aligned.

But this latest row and subsequent debates in Parliament will furrow brows in Beijing where officials will view it as a return to old accusations of the “China threat”.

Yang attended China's most significant political gatheringpublished at 16:52 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2024

16:52 GMT 16 December 2024

published at 16:52 16 December 2024

16:52 16 December 2024

BBC Verify has found that Yang Tengbo, the alleged Chinese spy who was named earlier today, attended "two sessions" - the annual meetings of the national legislature and the top political advisory body - in both 2019 and 2020.

A Chinese state media report, external featured Yang's image during an interview on 18 May 2020, before that year's "two sessions."

The "two sessions" is China's most significant annual political gathering, where decisions on key policies, laws, and personnel changes are announced. The event brings together thousands of delegates in Beijing.

Yang participated in both meetings as president of the UK Chinese Business Association, representing overseas Chinese.

Image source, China Daily

Dominic Casciani
Home and Legal Correspondent

The BBC has learned that the semi-secret court that banned Yang Tengbo from the UK on national security grounds decided for itself to name him despite his protestations that he would be put at risk.

In a ruling that has now only become reportable, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission told Yang on 27 November that his case to remain anonymous could not outweigh the public interest in him being named.

"Lifting the order for anonymity will not prevent the applicant from continuing his business interests, whether overseas or in the United Kingdom remotely," the Commission said.

“The mere fact that publication of the open [public] judgment may attract a significant degree of media attention is not a sufficient reason to maintain anonymity.”

The panel said that Yang had not provided the Commission with any evidence that he would be put at risk of harm, or suffer any other detriment, if he were named.

The Commission’s decision is unusual as most applicants challenging their UK exclusions orders retain their anonymity because of the exceptional nature of the power and its impact.

Typically, applicants are only named if the individual waives their right to anonymity or the media successfully challenge the restriction as unnecessary and an interference with the public’s right to know.

Daniela Relph
Senior royal correspondent

Palace sources say there is a hope that the Duke of York will "honourably withdraw” from all family events this year to avoid being a distraction.

Sean Coughlan
Royal correspondent

Image source, Supplied

Prince Andrew won’t be at Sandringham for Christmas this year, royal sources have confirmed.

It’s expected that Prince Andrew will withdraw from all family events to avoid being a distraction.

It follows his linking to the controversy surrounding the prince’s links to the Chinese businessman, now identified as Yang Tengbo.

Here’s a quick recap of what we’ve just heard:

• Sir Iain Duncan Smith asked to what extent the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front has operations within the UK. Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said the country is “committed” to disrupting threats from individuals
• Jarvis said that the UK is facing the “most complex” threat environment we have ever seen including from terrorism, China and Iran
• Duncan Smith said that Yang was not a “lone wolf” and was one of 40,000 United Front members - he asked if China is the UK’s biggest security threat and how Yang was able to get close to a member of the royal family
• A foreign influence registry update is coming soon and will be implemented by the government, likely by summer. Ministers asked if the government would commit to placing China on the enhanced tier of the scheme
• Suella Braverman - who removed Yang’s indefinite leave status last year - asked when the government might implement the registry scheme. Jarvis said the previous government had “many months” to implement the plan but did not

Responding to Braverman, Jarvis suggests that the previous Conservative government had the opportunity to implement a foreign influence scheme.

"It is a statement of fact" he says, adding that the government had "many months" after the National Security Act was passed when they could have implemented a scheme.

He says it now falls on the Labour Party to do so, and adds that this is precisely what the current government intends to do.

Image source, UK Parliament

The former home secretary who made the initial decision to ban Yang Tengbo from the UK, Suella Braverman, says she made the decision based on advice from MI5 and is glad to see it upheld by the court.

Isn't it regrettable, she asks, that it has taken a high-profile case, public outcry and opposition MPs dragging the minister to the chamber to get the government to implement the foreign influence registry scheme.

If the government is serious about tackling the Chinese threat, she says, when will it list China in the enhanced tier of the scheme?

Jarvis says he disagrees with Philp’s characterisation of Starmer’s relationship with Xi.

“I would just say very gently to him: At least he didn’t take him to the pub for a pint.”

The comment appears to be a reference to former Prime Minister David Cameron’s trip with Xi to a local pub for a pint during the Chinese president’s 2015 state visit.

Image source, UK Parliament

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, is up next with a wide-ranging question on UK-China relations.

He asks whether Jarvis would now consider expediting the implementation of the foreign influence registration scheme.

And, the opposition MP asks for a review of the "wisdom" of Starmer's stated desire to form positive relations with China, suggesting that it may not be "very wise" in light of today's events.

As a reminder, last month, Starmer emphasised the importance of a "strong UK-China relationship" during the first in-person meeting between a UK prime minister and Chinese President Xi Jinping since 2018.

Jarvis responds to Duncan Smith's question by saying first that the foreign influence registration scheme was not ready to be implemented under the previous government, but that the Labour government is working "at pace" to implement it - likely to happen in the summer.

He adds that work is also under way to work out which foreign powers will be placed on the enhanced tier of the scheme "based on robust security and intelligence analysis".

He says that he and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper will set out the government's approach "in due course".

• For context: On Monday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said an update on the foreign influence registration scheme will be "coming shortly". The scheme would require foreign lobbyists to disclose who they are in an arrangement with, what activity they have been directed to undertake, and when the arrangement was made.

Duncan Smith continues with his questions.

He says that Yang was not a lone wolf, but one of 40,000 members of the United Front Works Department.

That arm of the CCP has a wide influence, he notes.

“Will the minister accept that China is the UK’s most prominent security threat?” he asks.

Moving his questions towards Yang’s relationship with Prince Andrew, Duncan Smith queries "how was it that somebody known to security forces was allowed to get so close to the royals without scrutiny".

Dan Jarvis continues by setting out some of the UK government's response to ongoing threats from foreign actors.

He cites the National Security Act 2023 and says this measure is central to protection against other states' "hostile acts".

Jarvis says that six individuals have been charged under the law to date.

Yang Tengbo, the alleged Chinese spy named earlier today, has not been charged with any criminal offence.

Jarvis adds that the government has also set out an approach to China which will be "consistent" and "strategic". He says this includes challenging the country, but also co-operating on matters like climate change.

The Home Office minister goes on to say that the threats the UK faces are "pernicious" and "complex", before paying tribute to the work of security services.