Yang Tengbo: Chinese 'spy' who failed exam to study in UK twice - everything we know

Alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo has been named following a High Court hearing on Monday. He formed a close relationship with the Duke of York and other political figures

An alleged Chinese spy who formed relationships with key British figures, including Prince Andrew, has now been identified - and it turns out he failed an exam he needed to pass to study at a UK university twice.

Yang Tengbo, 50, had been pictured with former Prime Ministers David Cameron and Theresa May and forged a "close" relationship with the Duke of York. He reportedly attended Buckingham Palace on two occasions. The businessman, who founded the lobbying firm Hampton Group International, was banned from the UK last year.

He was expelled following allegations that he secretly collected intelligence for the United Front Work Department (UFWD) - an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The alleged spy has rejected claims and says he has "done nothing wrong or unlawful". Until now, Tengbo was known in the legal case only as H6 until the anonymity order was lifted.

Who is Yang Tengbo?

The accused spy, who was born in Yunnan, southwest China, graduated with a history degree and spent seven years working for a “national government agency”. He picked up his life and moved to the UK in 2002 where he later took two attempts to secure the minimum score needed to take up a degree through the IELTS English test. After this, he signed up to a short course on writing academic papers.

With these qualifications, he was able to gain a place to study for a master's degree in public administration and public policy at the University of York. He was featured in a BBC profile on Chinese students in the UK in 2006, which described how "he forced himself to change his past thinking mode in Chinese and think and express in English, which would ahchieve twice the result with half the effort."

Yang Tengbo's company

Tengbo founded Hampton Group in 2005, opening offices in the City of London. Just seven years later, he was granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK. His company won a three-year deal with a PR firm in Beijing with clients including China Central Television, the state broadcaster. He also assisted the 48 Group - a group of businewss and political figures who support closer relations with China.

According to Tengbo, Hampton has worked with some of the UK's biggest companies with oeprations in China. He has claimed his work included helping high-end sports car manufacturer McClaren introduce its luxury road cars into China as well as saying his company advised GlaxoSmithKline as it was in the midst of a whistleblowing investigation.

Hampton's website says it "delivers strategic advisory, investment solutions and communications services to help leaders of international and Chinese companies solve business-critical challenges and seize unique opportunities. The company, which also has offices in Beijing and Hong Kong, recorded a profift of £5.65 million in its most recent accounts and had an average of 10 employees last year.

What did Yang Tengbo say ?

He released a statement and said: “Due to the high level of speculation and misreporting in the media and elsewhere, I have asked my legal team to disclose my identity. I have done nothing wrong or unlawful and the concerns raised by the Home Office against me are ill-founded. The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue.”

Potential clues found on his phone

According to The Times, Mr Tengbo's phone was found to contain a letter from Dominic Hampshire, a senior adviser to Prince Andrew. It reportedly said: "I hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal (the Duke) and indeed his family. You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship... outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on."

What was said at the urgent High Court hearing?

At an urgent High Court hearing on Monday, lawyers for Mr Tengbo – who is also known as Chris Yang – said that the businessman was not seeking to maintain his anonymity. Guy Vassall-Adams KC said: “There has been an enormous amount of media reporting in relation to this story, and particularly in relation to the relationship between my client, H6, and Prince Andrew, as well as a huge amount of speculation about the identity of my client.”

Lifting his anonymity, Judge Mr Justice Chamberlain said: “It seems to me that these proceedings now serve no further purpose.”

Political figures weigh in on case

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party was prepared to name the alleged spy in the chamber while Labour MP Graham Stringer also told the Mail on Sunday it was “ludicrous for this person to remain anonymous in the country he was allegedly spying on”.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp previously told LBC he was “extremely worried” about the case and that the court order protecting the man’s identity should be lifted so that “justice can be seen to be done”.

Tory shadow farming minister Robbie Moore said on Monday morning: "It's not really for me to get involved in advising the royal family on what they should be advising Prince Andrew to do...But I think Prince Andrew would be wise, I suspect, just to sit back for a while."