BEIJING: China on Tuesday (Dec 17) mentioned claims {that a} businessman had used his hyperlinks with Britain’s Prince Andrew to spy for Beijing had been “preposterous” after the UK authorities voiced mounting considerations over the allegations.
Particulars emerged final week about Andrew’s relationship with Yang Tengbo, a businessman and alleged spy, who had been banned from Britain.
Requested concerning the case whereas on a go to to Norway, Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned Britain was “involved concerning the problem that China poses” however defended his method of “engagement” with Beijing.
A spokesman for Beijing’s overseas ministry mentioned on Tuesday that the “accusations of so-called Chinese language espionage are preposterous”.
“The event of China-UK relations is within the frequent pursuits of each international locations and can also be conducive to selling world financial progress and responding to world challenges,” Lin Jian mentioned.
“It’s hoped that the UK will work with China to build up extra optimistic elements and display the 2 international locations’ innate character of cooperation, mutual advantages and customary wins,” he added.
Yang, who was reportedly as soon as invited to Andrew’s party, mentioned in a press release on Monday that he had “done nothing wrong or unlawful”, and had “fallen sufferer” to a altering “political local weather”.
“The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is solely unfaithful,” Yang added, noting he had opted to waive his anonymity and was interesting in opposition to the UK determination.
Starmer mentioned at a information convention in Bergen, Norway, that Britain’s method in direction of China concerned “cooperating the place we have to cooperate, notably, for instance, on points like local weather change, to problem the place we should and the place we must always”.