PRINCE Andrew has been branded Beijing’s “useful idiot” after reportedly making trips to China as the guest of an organisation linked to communist spies.
The Duke of York – who is facing turbulence over a sex abuse case – is said to have heralded closer co-operation between the UK and China during eight visits between 2010 and 2019.
According to the Mail, the trips were at the invitation of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs – which allegedly answers to the Communist regime’s intelligence and propaganda unit.
The duke, 61, has been dubbed a “classic useful idiot” for “seemingly allowing himself to be used” by the United Front Work Department, which the MI5 says has been involved in “foreign interference” and was seeking to “corrupt and coerce” British politicians.
Despite dwindling relations with China in 2016 amid crackdowns on pro-democracy campaigners, Prince Andrew made five visits between then and 2019 on behalf of his Pitch@Palace business scheme – having already made three visits before then.
In 2018, it’s reported he praised China’s Belt and Road Initiative that saw infrastructure projects rolled out in developing countries – a policy that was criticised as it allowed the regime to seize assets in the event of a debt default.
The duke also unveiled editions of President Xi Jinping’s propaganda book The Governance of China in multiple languages that same year.
At the end of 2020, he wrote to CPIFA – which UK think-tanks including the Hoover Institution have accused of being part of United Front work groups that try to influence high-profile foreign figures – to apologise for not being able to visit, it’s reported.
Mareike Ohlberg, co-author of Hidden Hand, which talks out the Chinese Communists Party’s attempts to influence opinions abroad, told the Mail: “Prince Andrew is a classic ‘useful idiot’ and seemingly allows himself to be used.”
Senior Tory MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith added: “It is unfortunate that Prince Andrew appears to have been used this way.”
With Andrew stepping back from royal duties as he battles sex abuse claims lodged by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, the UK department of Pitch@Palace is shutting up shop. It’s understood the global operation will carry on, however.
It comes as Andrew faces a £14million payout after his accuser’s lawyer signalled she would reach a settlement if he admitted the claims against him.
The monster bill is far less than the duke would face if he lost a jury trial.
It was mooted as Virginia Giuffre’s veteran lawyer David Boies suggested for the first time she would accept a payout.
Speculation over the case was fuelled by Mr Boies’ remarks which came days after Andrew issued a denial of her claims in legal papers and demanded a jury trial in the US.
Ms Giuffre — who alleges Andrew sexually abused her when she was 17, which he has always strongly denied — has previously insisted a financial settlement alone would not be enough for her.
Her lawyer — who has previously represented Hollywood sex offender Harvey Weinstein — said: “We would be unlikely to settle in a situation in which somebody has just handed over a cheque.
“So if Prince Andrew maintains ‘I’ve never heard of this person’, ‘the photographs are fake’, I don’t think we’d settle on that basis.
“That said, if you had a settlement that was large enough to be, in effect, a vindication, then that’s something we would obviously look at.”
Meanwhile, it’s reported under-pressure Andrew shouted at a female gardener over wrongly-cut trees – just days after he was served with his sex case writ.
The Duke left the flunkey “shaken and upset” in Windsor – with an insider saying: “He was over the top.”
