Are we sleepwalking into a disaster?

I’M not a political animal. Nor am I a conspiracy theorist, so with neither qualities to back me up I guess I’m heading for deep water. But that's what columnists do from time to time.

- Charmian Evans on Saturday

Where am I heading with this? Well I'm heading to China. A country I've never visited, the nearest being Hong Kong.

We owe much to the Chinese and their input to trade, inventions and many, many other areas of trade. But for years I've been concerned about the modus operandi of some aspects of their work. I've felt that their influence has been invidiously working its way into other countries while the rest of the world has been looking elsewhere.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned, and I fear that we in the west are fiddling away, oblivious of the takeover that is going on under our very eyes.

‘This week MI5 told MPs and peers that they're being targeted by Chinese intelligence agents trying to recruit their staff, friends and contacts with large “financial incentives”.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was known to have entertained Yang Tengbo, an alleged spy who befriended the ex-prince. Tengbo was at the heart of the British royal family, running the Duke of York's Pitch@Palace in China - a Dragon's Den-style project. He was also given authority to act on the prince's behalf in Chinese dealings, according to court documents.

Tengbo has been into Parliament, met with previous Prime Ministers and met a number of other politicians. Tengbo denies the allegations and claims they are unfounded.