'Close confidante' of duke loses the right to enter UK

Chinese man ‘H6’ claimed to only have limited links to CCP

- HOLLY EVANS

A Chinese businessman described as a “close confidante” of the Duke of York has lost an appeal over a decision to bar him from entering the UK on national security grounds.

The man, known only as H6, brought a case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) after then-home secretary Suella Braverman said he should be excluded from the UK in March 2023.

Judges were told that in a briefing for the home secretary in July 2023, officials claimed H6 had been in a position to generate relationships between prominent UK figures and senior Chinese officials “that could be leveraged for political interference purposes”.

They also said that H6 had downplayed his relationship with the Chinese state, which, combined with his relationship with Prince Andrew, represented a threat to national security.

At a hearing in July, the specialist tribunal heard that the businessman was told by an adviser to the duke that he could act on the duke’s behalf when dealing with potential investors in China, and that H6 had been invited to Andrew’s birthday party in 2020.

A letter referencing the birthday party from the adviser, Dominic Hampshire, was discovered on H6’s devices when he was stopped at a port in November 2021.