Alleged Chinese spy in business with Tory donor and defence advisor

Recent reports have shown how an alleged spy working for the Chinese government managed to penetrate the highest echelons of power, mingling with top politicians and ingratiating himself with the disgraced royal Prince Andrew.

Good Law Project can now reveal his connections with ex-McClaren boss, Sir Ronald Dennis, who worked closely with the Tory government and donated almost over £750,000 to its party coffers. About a third of his donations were given in the lead-up to the last election. 

Yang Tenbo was excluded from the UK by the Home Office in 2023 after it determined he would likely pose a threat to national security. But he is still in business with Dennis at a company called Coeus International, which undertakes “fund managing activities” and was incorporated in 2017.

During this time, Dennis has held sensitive advisory roles at the Ministry of Defence and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. He was on a panel set up by the defence ministry to “encourage imagination, ingenuity and entrepreneurship, in pursuit of maintaining a military advantage in the future”.

On his appointment to the panel in 2017, just before he set up shop with Yang, Dennis told the press, “There can be nothing more important than our national security.”

But for Good Law Project’s legal director, Rheian Davies, “The proximity of this alleged spy to a Tory government insider who likely had access to sensitive information, is a case in point of how the rich and powerful in our country may leave themselves and our political system exposed to potentially malign influence to the detriment of us all”. 

There is no allegation of any wrongdoing by Dennis, who is no longer a government advisor.

Yang has been accused of working for an arm of the Chinese Communist Party called the United Workers Front Department, which leads its foreign influence operations. Yang issued a press statement on Monday 16 December denying all the allegations against him.

“I have done nothing wrong or unlawful,” he said, “and the concerns raised by the Home Office against me are ill-founded. The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is entirely untrue.” He added that decisions had been made about him “based on secret evidence and closed proceedings” which he said was “unfair”.

He continued that “On their own fact finding, even the three judges in this case concluded that there was ‘not an abundance of evidence’ against me, their decision was ‘finely balanced’ and there could be an ‘innocent explanation’ for my activities.” He added “I built my private life in the UK over two decades and love the country as my second home. I would never do anything to harm the interests of the UK.”

We worked with The Mirror on this investigation, which approached Yang, Dennis, the defence ministry and the science department for comment.

A Conservative party spokesman said: “All reportable donations are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law.” Sir Ron Dennis was not available for comment.