UK approves a ‘mega’ Chinese Embassy in London despite criticism of security risks
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government on Tuesday approved a huge new Chinese Embassy in central London despite heavy pressure from lawmakers over its potential security risks.
Local Government Secretary Steve Reed formally signed off on plans for the building near the Tower of London after a series of delays and legal challenges.
Critics have long expressed concerns that the proposed supersized embassy, set to be the biggest Chinese Embassy in Europe, will be used as a base for espionage as well as pose a heightened threat of surveillance and intimidation of Chinese dissidents in exile.
But the government said it had worked “with policing, and other relevant partners, to ensure that the breadth of national security issues associated with this planning application have been considered and addressed.”
Plans for the embassy have been plagued by objections and protests since 2018, when China’s government bought the site at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London, for 225 million pounds ($301 million.)
Opponents say the huge site sits too close to underground fiber optic cables carrying sensitive financial information between London’s two main financial districts. British media have reported that the 20,000 square meter (215,278 square feet) complex would include 208 secret basement rooms close to the data cables.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has repeatedly postponed its decision in recent months after multiple cases of alleged Chinese spying and political interference underlined alarms about the proposed embassy.
Dissidents have been among those who have protested the plans, saying a mega-embassy housing large numbers of officials would further China’s repression of activists abroad.
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the opposition Conservative Party, joined hundreds of protesters who chanted “no China mega embassy” at the site Sunday.
Conservative foreign affairs spokeswoman Priti Patel said “Keir Starmer has sold off our national security to the Chinese Communist Party with his shameful super embassy surrender.”
In November, the domestic intelligence agency MI5 issued an alert to lawmakers warning that Chinese agents were making “targeted and widespread” efforts to recruit and cultivate them using LinkedIn or cover companies.
However, U.K. security services gave the greenlight to the embassy development.
Some security experts say the risks are manageable and that the embassy has the advantage of consolidating China’s current seven diplomatic premises in London onto one site.
The government said that “no bodies with responsibility for national security … have raised concerns or objected to the proposal on the basis of the proximity of the cables or other underground infrastructure.”
Starmer has stressed that while protecting national security is non-negotiable, Britain needs to keep up diplomatic dialogue and cooperation with the Asian superpower.
The approval is widely expected to pave the way for a long-anticipated trip by Starmer to China, and an expansion of the U.K. Embassy in Beijing. The closely watched visit would be the first made by a British prime minister since 2018.
China has complained about the seven-year delay in approving the project, saying the U.K. was “constantly complicating and politicizing the matter.”