UK courts release new documents on Prince Andrew's relationship to alleged Chinese spy
The 10-page statement from Dominique Hampshire in May of 2024 was part of a tranche of documents released by the courts following a request from numerous British media organizations regarding Prince Andrew's relationship to the alleged spy, Yang Tengbo. The documents are part of Yang's appeal of his exclusion from the UK in December, which he lost.
Yang reportedly forged a close relationship with the prince and was the co-founder of Pitch@Palace China, which expanded the duke's Pitch@Palace initiative into China.
In a tribunal hearing in December that upheld the earlier decision to bar Yang from the UK, it was revealed that Yang was authorized to act on Prince Andrew's behalf during business meetings with potential Chinese investors in the UK.
Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman told parliament in December she took the decision to ban Yang from the UK 'because his presence posed a threat to our national security' and was 'based on the advice of MI5,' the UK's domestic security agency.
Yang has denied any wrongdoing.
Hampshire also said Yang helped Prince Andrew draft letters to Xi discussing the Eurasia Fund, something Yang had described in his written evidence to the tribunal as a way to 'upgrade' the duke's Pitch@Palace initiative 'into an investment-type business, or a fund.' He was also tasked with talking to 'relevant people' in China, per British press agency PA.
'The royal household, including the late queen, were fully aware of this communication – it was certainly accepted and it may be fair to say it was even encouraged – it was an open channel of communication that was useful to have,' Hampshire said in the statement.
Hampshire said he met twice with Prince Andrew and King Charles over the six months prior to giving his witness statement to discuss 'what the duke can do moving forwards in a way that is acceptable to His Majesty.' Those talks included discussing the Eurasia Fund, according to PA.
Buckingham Palace said Friday that King Charles has met with Prince Andrew together with Hampshire over the past year to discuss proposals for independent funding, but Yang was never mentioned.
The relationship between the prince and Yang came about shortly after the duke's disastrous 2019 BBC interview on his relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Hampshire said led to his belief that the prince's reputation was 'irrecoverable.'
'This was a common feeling within the royal household, despite what the duke thought may happen. It was very clear internally within the royal household that we would have to look at options for the duke's future away from royal duties,' Hampshire said in his witness statement, according to British news agency PA.
According to PA, Hampshire also said he never saw a 'red flag' with Yang (who also went by the name Chris), and emphasized Yang 'categorically does not have a close relationship with the duke.'
'Chris, of course, doesn't have the duke's telephone number or his email address and does not have the ability to talk directly to the duke on his own - ever. This is normal practice and Chris's relationship with the duke is the same as numerous others,' he said, according to PA.
He also said Andrew 'fully complied' with advice to end all contact with Yang.
Hampshire said in a separate statement on Friday that he left the royal household in 2022 and no longer provides advice to Andrew, according to PA.
CNN's Rob Picheta and Max Foster contributed to this report.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
23 minutes ago
- UPI
U.S. adds products to list at risk of Uyghur forced labor
1 of 2 | A child sits on the ground in the city of Kashgar in western China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region during a government organized trip for foreign journalists, in 2021. U.S. officials said Tuesday they are broadening the categories of products that will be subject to additional scrutiny under the Uyghur Forced Labor Act. File Photo Wu Hong/EPA Aug. 19 (UPI) -- The United States Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday it was expanding its strategy to block imports of Chinese products made with forced labor by members of the Uyghur minority group. The department has added steel, copper, lithium, caustic soda and red dates to its list of sectors that receive heightened scrutiny because they have been deemed to be at higher risk of having been made by forced Uyghur labor. The move is the latest by U.S. officials in recent years to pressure China over its treatment of the Muslim minority Uyghurs in its northwestern Xinjiang region. "America has a moral, economic, and national security duty to eradicate threats that endanger our nation's prosperity, including unfair trade practices that disadvantage the American people and stifle our economic growth," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. The Uyghur Forced Labor Act was signed into law in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden in response to reports of human rights abuses in China's Xinjiang region. The law bans products made in the region from entering the United States under the presumption they were made by ethnic Uyghurs who were pressured into working into labor-intensive industries under the threat of detention. After the law took effect, the Biden administration blacklisted over 100 Chinese-based companies from importing their products into the United States over alleged violations. Officials have also added aluminum, apparel, seafood, polyvinyl chloride and others to the list of sectors at greater risk of using forced labor in the region. In a report to Congress, the department described their rationale for adding the new sectors to its list. The report cites official Chinese documents that prioritize the production of steel, lithium and copper in the Xinjiang region. China produces 40 percent of the world's red dates, with half of that coming from Xinjiang, according to the report. Red dates are intercropped with cotton, which is well documented as being at high risk of forced labor practices," the report states. The production of caustic soda in the region also has been tied to the use of forced labor, according to the report. Earlier in this year, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio put visa restrictions on officials in Thailand who were accused of forcibly returning 40 Uyghurs from Thailand to China.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
California's controversial parental rights bill
Amy Reichert had a few days notice to pack her bags and catch an early morning flight from San Diego to Sacramento. 'I just felt like I needed to be here physically,' she said. Reichert traveled to California to protest against Assembly Bill 495, or the Family Preparedness Plan Act, on Tuesday in front of the state Capitol. The bill is intended to aid migrant children of deported parents but the policy has a few holes, Reichert said. Proponents of the bill say it will help migrant parents, while opponents say it will strip parents of their rights to decide who cares for their children. The bill expands who is allowed to sign a caregiver's authorization affidavit, a legal form to give an adult authority over a child's schooling and healthcare decisions, allowing an adults to become a caregiver to a child without a requirement that parents sign the form. It also expands the definition of a caregiver to a relative or a nonrelative, which could include anyone, from a family friend to a teacher. The proposed bill relies on the caregiver's declaration and does not mandate any sort of background checks. What are critics saying? The mobilization efforts against the bill are growing. Among the people making opposed to the bill is Steve Hilton, a British-American political Republican commentator who is running for governor. In a video on X, he said the bill 'legalized kidnapping.' Critics, like Reichert, argue the bill will have negative consequences for American families and could lead to child exploitation. She hadn't seen any major red flags in an earlier version of the bill but then learned about the changes. 'There were more safeguards on it. Those safeguards were taken off and it was frightening because I do have a school aged child myself,' Reichert said. 'Remember — we all have different living situations," she said, adding that the bill could legally embolden one parent to make decisions without considering the other or going through the court system, should the couple be divorced or separated. Reichert, the founder of Restore San Diego, who also pushed for the reopening of schools and businesses in 2020, spoke to the Deseret News on her walk from the Hyatt Regency, where she attended a meeting to organize lobbying efforts against the bill, to the Capitol steps. She was tasked with leading people to Sen. Steve Padilla's office to ask him to vote against the bill, which passed the Assembly and is now being considered in the California State Senate. As Reichert arrived at the protest ahead of time, she switched to FaceTime, giving the Deseret News a peek into the scene on the ground. Live gospel music played in the background as hundreds of people held signs that said 'STOP AB 495″ and 'Don't Gamble with Child Safety,' as they stood scattered around the steps and the lawn waiting for the programming to begin. Legal precedent against AB 495 Will Estrada, the senior counsel at the Homeschool Legal Defense Association, who was also at the protest, chatted with the Deseret News ahead of attending and speaking at the rally. Estrada was at a hotel across the street, alongside a crowd of people with signs gathered in the atrium. 'As people have dug into this, they've realized that this is not just in an immigration context. This is a bill that really comes between the parent-child relationship,' he said. 'The family is the foundation of society,' Estrada said. Whether found in religious scriptures, from Jewish, Christian to Islamic, or Greek philosophy — most cultures are in agreement about this foundation, he said. The Supreme Court has protected this relationship for 102 years, he added. Beginning with Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) and Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925), the courts have asserted a child doesn't belong to the state. And 'just earlier this year, Mahmoud v. Taylor, the Supreme Court case regarding parental opt-outs of certain curriculum in the public schools,' reaffirmed parental rights as fundamental, as Estrada put it. He said he is optimistic California Gov. Gavin Newsom will listen to reason. He's a dad to four children himself, the legal counsel noted, adding, 'Parental rights are for everyone and the government should not come between that.' Proponents of the bill argue it will help ease disruptions for children when families are separated because of immigration issues. Parents facing tough situations, like sudden deportation because of their undocumented immigration status, are often faced with 'impossible choices,' Alliance for Children's Rights said in a statement. Incarceration, military service or illness are other reasons where such an affidavit comes into play. 'Some make the difficult choice to suspend their parental rights through the complicated probate guardianship process, others opt to use a caregiver's authorization affidavit for a more informal arrangement.' The statement noted these affidavits are already an existing route for caregivers who aren't the parent or legal guardian. This paperwork doesn't transfer over the custody of the child — a court order would still be required. Solve the daily Crossword
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
White House launches official TikTok account: 'America we are BACK!'
WASHINGTON - The White House launched an official TikTok account on Aug. 19, taking advantage of the short video app's more than 170 million U.S. users to spread the messages of President Donald Trump. Trump has a soft spot for the popular app, crediting it with helping him gain support among young voters when he defeated Democrat Kamala Harris in the November 2024 presidential election. Lawmakers in Washington worry, however, that its U.S. user data could fall into the hands of China's government. Trump has been working on a deal for U.S. investors to buy the app from TikTok's Chinese parent, ByteDance. Past intelligence assessments have said the app's owners are beholden to the Chinese government and that it could be used to influence Americans. The new account, @whitehouse, went live on Aug. 19 with an initial video showing footage of Trump as he declares: "I am your voice." "America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?" the caption read. The TikTok account Trump used for his presidential campaign last year, @realdonaldtrump, has more than 15 million followers. The Republican president also relies heavily on his Truth Social account to deliver his message and posts occasionally on his X account. "The Trump administration is committed to communicating the historic successes President Trump has delivered to the American people with as many audiences and platforms as possible," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. "President Trump's message dominated TikTok during his presidential campaign, and we're excited to build upon those successes and communicate in a way no other administration has before," she said. A 2024 law required TikTok to stop operating by Jan. 19 of this year unless ByteDance had completed divesting the app's U.S. assets or demonstrated significant progress toward a sale. Trump opted not to enforce the law after he began his second term as president on Jan. 20. He first extended the deadline to early April, then to June 19, and then again to Sept. 17. Extensions to the deadline have drawn criticism from some lawmakers, who argue the Trump administration is flouting the law and ignoring national security concerns related to Chinese control over TikTok. (Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Rod Nickel and Edmund Klamann)
