Box of books discarded by ’Chinese spy’ deepens mystery around Prince Andrew’s connections

A box of books belonging to a man alleged to be a Chinese Spy were found dumped on the lawn outside his house this morning.

It was revealed at the High Court earlier this week that the alleged Chinese spy who has been banned from the UK was called Yang Tengbo, but also goes by Chris Yang.

Mr Yang is said to have links to Prince Andrew and was banned from the UK by MI5 last week due to the potential security threat.

The new owner of the house at the centre of the allegations said he found a stash of Pitch @ Palace promotional material left behind.

The books were part of Prince Andrew’s scheme to promote UK entrepreneurs internationally.

He told the Metro: ‘I can dine out on this story hopefully. There was nothing left behind apart from the books.

‘I bought the place through on agent and met a couple of Chinese people but there was nothing unusual.’

The box of books were left outside the house that is at the centre of the alleged spy ring (Picture: John Dunne / Metro)

The texts showed a number of ideas from Pitch@Palace that had links to Prince Andrew (Picture: John Dunne / Metro)

He said he had been told the company Hampton Group – which was run by Chinese business people – used the property to accommodate staff who were working in the central London office of the group.

The new owner of the house at the centre of the allegations said he found a stash of Pitch @ Palace promotional material left behind.

The books were part of Prince Andrew’s scheme to promote UK entrepreneurs internationally.

The house was sold to the new owner for just under £1m with the deal going through just before the spying allegations emerged.

He told the Metro: ‘I can dine out on this story hopefully. There was nothing left behind apart from the books.

‘I bought the place through an agent and met a couple of Chinese people but there was nothing unusual.’

He said he had been told the company Hampton Group – which was run by Chinese business people – to accommodate staff who were working in the central London office of the group.

In a statemen yesterday, Yang, 50, said he has ‘done nothing wrong or unlawful’, adding that the ‘widespread description of me as a “spy” is entirely untrue’.

He had been under an anonymity order known only as ‘H6’ until he revealed his name publicly to deny the allegations against him.

Mr Yang was living in a converted library in west London, and a neighbour told Metro how ‘flash cars’ and ‘perfectly turned out’ Chinese office staff were the talk of the quiet suburban street in Hampton.

His former home is one of the biggest on the street where he was alleged to be running an espionage ring.

The Royal could be seen on a number of pages of the books (Picture: John Dunne / Metro)

Yang Tengbo, also known as Chris Yang, said he was not seeking to maintain his anonymity

One neighbour, 51, told Metro: ‘There were lots of flash cars pulling up and perfectly turned out office staff in and out. The women working in there were immaculate.

‘We did think it was strange that they were apparently running a business from there. All the neighbours were a bit perplexed and were talking about it. 

‘This is a street where you could genuinely say before this ‘nothing ever happens’.

‘We are totally shocked to be centre stage in a suspected spy story, very James Bond. It’s exciting really, my sister rang me when she saw it on the news, we are really on the map now.’

Another neighbour told Metro: ‘When the Chinese moved in it was a bit odd as we thought it was going to be a family moving in.

‘We were a bit taken aback when all the office furniture started to arrive. Having said that there was nothing to raise alarm bells there.

‘They went about their business and didn’t interact with the local community. Now we may know why I suppose.’

Books included further information about Pitch@Palace (Picture: John Dunne / Metro)

It is alleged that Mr Yang had been a spy for China however authorities are denying this further today (Picture: John Dunne / Metro)

In a statement, 50-year-old Yang said he has ‘done nothing wrong or unlawful’, adding that the ‘widespread description of me as a “spy” is entirely untrue’.

Yang’s lawyer Guy Vassall-Adams KC told the High Court: ‘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.’

In a letter found by investigators, an advisor to the Duke of York told him: ‘You sit at the very top of a tree that many, many people would like to be on.’

It added: ‘I also hope that it is clear to you where you sit with my principal and indeed his family.

‘You should never underestimate the strength of that relationship.’

China today claims that Mr Yang had used his links with Britain’s Prince Andrew to spy for Beijing were ‘preposterous’, after the UK government voiced mounting concerns over the allegations.

Asked about the case while on a visit to Norway, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain was ‘concerned about the challenge that China poses’ but defended his approach of ‘engagement’ with Beijing.

A spokesman for Beijing’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the ‘accusations of so-called Chinese espionage are preposterous’.

‘The development of China-UK relations is in the common interests of both countries and is also conducive to promoting world economic growth and responding to global challenges,’ Lin Jian said.

James Smith