Ambitious Andrew to grease the wheels for China’s go-getters
SECURITY concerns have engulfed Chinese technology giant Huawei to such an extent that Prince Charles’s charity refused to accept any new donations from the firm.
His younger brother Prince Andrew, however, is keen to show he still believes in Chinese business.
I learn that the Duke of York is to visit the far-flung cities of Beijing and Shenzhen and the province of Fujian — a round trip of nearly 3,000 miles — next week to host a beano for his Pitch@Palace project.
At the bash, budding Chinese entrepreneurs will try to win financial backing for their business schemes. ‘It’s an interesting strategy to shun the Chinese on one hand, then court them on the other,’ remarks one royal watcher.
Prince Andrew, who stepped down as overseas trade envoy in 2011 after a string of controversies, has spent years trying to improve relations with the Communist regime and has visited China several times.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman tells me: ‘ HRH has been a regular visitor to China since his first visit in April 2004 and continues to help further the relationship between the two countries since President Xi’s state visit to the UK in 2015.’
Other members of the Royal Family have not been afraid to offend Chinese sensibilities.
Prince Philip has called Beijing ‘ghastly’ and Prince Charles once described the Chinese leadership as ‘appalling old waxworks’.
In January, Charles’s charity the Prince’s Trust refused to accept any new donations from Huawei. It had received £490,000 from the company since 2007.
Huawei is a major supplier of broadband products and mobile networks in Britain.
But it has come under scrutiny amid warnings that its technology poses spying risks.
Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s finance boss and daughter of its founder, was arrested in Canada before Christmas at the U.S.’s request over alleged violations of sanctions on Iran. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson has voiced ‘very deep concerns’ over Huawei’s involvement in the UK rollout of a 5G telecoms network.