China’s embassy has set a warning to the UK over the communist spy allegations. (Image: GETTY)
embassy in London has warned the UK to “stop creating trouble” as it hit out at what it described as MPs’ “twisted mentality” over allegations that a Chinese businessman linked to is a Communist party spy.
An embassy spokesperson also accused UK lawmakers of “arrogance and shamelessness” over the claims.
They added: “We urge the UK side to immediately stop creating trouble, stop anti-China political manipulations, and stop undermining normal personnel exchange between China and the .”
The comments came after a judge allowed the 50-year-old Chinese national, who has been banned from Britain on national security grounds, to be identified as .
UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis told MPs that Britain faced “ongoing efforts by a number of states, including China, and Iran, to harm the UK’s security” and so welcomed the court’s decision to uphold the ban on Yang.
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The anonymity order was reviewed as MPs threatened to use parliamentary privilege to name him. (Image: uncredited)
He warned: “This case does not exist in a vacuum.”
The anonymity order was reviewed during a hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice on Monday, as MPs threatened to use parliamentary privilege to reveal the name in the House of Commons.
On Tuesday, the Chinese spokesperson labelled “the anti-China clamours made by a handful of UK MPs” as a bid “to smear China [and] target against the Chinese community in the UK,” adding that they strongly condemn the action.
Yang had allegedly developed business links to and access to a network of other senior British political and business figures.
The tensions mark a potential setback for the Labour government’s bid to improve ties with Beijing. Prime Minister Sir met President last month, in the first meeting between the countries’ leaders since 2018, promising to build “consistent, durable, respectful” relations.
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MI5 had claimed that Yang was a member of the Chinese Communist party (CCP). (Image: Getty)
MI5 had claimed that Yang was a member of the (CCP) working for the United Front Work Department, which gathers intelligence. The case against him was partly based on data unearthed on his phone, which was seized by the UK security services in November 2021.
The Chinese embassy spokesperson argued that the United Front was “above board and beyond reproach”, identifying it as an attempt to promote co-operation between the CCP “and people who are not members of it and promote people-to-people exchanges and friendship with other countries”.
Yang had challenged the ban from the Home Office, an appeal that was rejected last week by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission.
The commission’s ruling found that Yang “had been in a position to generate relationships with prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials that could be leveraged for political interference purposes by the CCP… or the Chinese state”.
“The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue,” Yang said, hitting out at his treatment on Monday.
“The political climate has changed and unfortunately I have fallen victim to this. 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.”