I was followed while probing suspected Chinese spy’s links to Prince Andrew, says Mail journalist
At first I tried to dismiss it as paranoia. The car in my rearview mirror had been there for twenty minutes, vigilantly following my every move.
A black, powerful sedan, sleek and intimidating, it seemed incongruous that he had any interest in me – a reporter in his 20s driving a tired-looking VW Golf. But when I turned left, the car followed. When I turned right the same thing happened.
Maybe it was a coincidence, but a creeping fear told me otherwise. So at the next roundabout I completed two full circuits.
I went around it, and around it again, and as I turned my eyes to the mirror, my pursuers—two men I could barely make out in the darkness of an overcast day—clung to me like glue. My heart pounded, scared of what I had gotten myself into.
I drove to a reliable source who had tipped me off about Prince Andrew’s alleged Chinese spy and confidante who has now been banished from Britain.
The source told how the man, then a little-known businessman, had forced his way into the British establishment by courting senior politicians and courtiers from the royal family. The details were as astonishing as they were sinister.
I had investigated the matter discreetly and discussed it only with my editor and the source. Days before the chase, I received a disturbing call from an unknown number.
A plump voice told me that he was representing the Chinese businessman and that his firm had “learned” that I was investigating his client and his alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The Duke of York with the alleged Chinese spy who has now been banned from entering Britain
Prince Andrew with Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in May 2018
I couldn’t imagine that he knew about my research. He insisted his client was a renowned figure dedicated to improving trade between Britain and China.
He tried to make a few jokes, but his friendly demeanor didn’t soften me up. Panic ensued. He asked me to send all my questions, but insisted that any suggestion that his client was an agent for Beijing was a smear.
His words rang in my ears as that menacing black saloon sat stubbornly in my rearview mirror. Surely these two thugs were Chinese agents? I carefully put my foot on the accelerator.
I felt like I was in a John le Carré novel. Should I call the police? My editor? A thousand thoughts went through my head, including executing a screeching Hollywood-style U-turn.
If I continued, I would lead them to my source, and perhaps that is what they were hoping for.
As I approached a traffic light, green turned orange – this was my chance to escape. I jumped into the light just as it turned red. The salon was too far back to do the same, so I breathed a sigh of relief as it disappeared from view.
I suspect the chase was little more than an intimidation tactic. If the Chinese really wanted to spy on me without my knowledge, that could easily happen. This was about warning me to back off.
As Britain began to reconsider the wisdom of former Prime Minister David Cameron’s “golden age” of Anglo-Chinese relations, I had spent months investigating the web of suspected Chinese spies and influential figures from the British establishment.
Prince Andrew at the Guildhall in central London with Xi Jinping and the Mayor of London before attending a banquet on October 21, 2015
But the incident left me shaken and wondering if, for my personal safety, it was worth it.
It now appears that China has spent years and enormous resources insinuating its agents into the heart of our way of life.
It is not surprising that it is trying to muzzle journalists who want to expose its dark arts – although it must be said that I am writing this anonymously due to an absurd ruling by a British court, which prevents the publication of my name in connection with this man or the material that could identify him.
But my frustration with the judiciary cannot match the alarm I felt in the CCP’s crosshairs. Undoubtedly, I was not the first to experience China’s bullyboy tactics aimed at undermining the free press, and I am confident I will not be the last.