Prince charmed Alleged spy scandal may have exposed China threat

Prince Andrew should be commended for doing Britain a great service, according to longstanding China watcher Charles Parton. The now marginalised royal has, the analyst observed, "almost single handedly" succeeded "in highlighting the threat to free and open countries" posed by the contemporary Chinese state.

- Dan Sabbagh

The story of Sino-British relations has developed rapidly, turning 180 degrees in less than a decade.

Nine years ago, David Cameron took China's president Xi Jinping for a pint in a Buckinghamshire pub during a state visit. China, under Cameron's premiership, was to be allowed to build nuclear plants in the UK, first through a minority investment in the site Hinkley Point in Somerset - and it was hoped that China would develop a majorityowned site in Bradwell, Essex. The latter development, however, would never take place - while China has stopped funding Hinkley Point.

Meanwhile, a cyberwar was continuing. Three and a half years ago, MI5 was gingerly warning of people using fake LinkedIn profiles, posing as recruiters to try to fool people into spilling commercial information as part of what they thought was a recruitment process. Yet even then, MI5 was too coy to name the country involved.