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Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Why every Hong Konger in Britain lives in fear of China's mega embassy
A faded billboard near the Tower of London declares that a disused site behind high walls is set to become a 'new mixed use campus' with 'office, retail and leisure space'. That was the old plan for Royal Mint Court, where the coinage of the Realm was minted in buildings of 19th century grandeur for over 150 years until 1967. The new plan is for the People's Republic of China to transform this venerable location, beside the gleaming high rises of the City and directly opposite the Tower of London, into a gigantic new embassy. A final decision on whether to allow China to proceed will be taken by Angela Rayner, the Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, before Sept 9. Just how big China's new embassy would be is disclosed by the original planning application, rejected by Tower Hamlets Borough Council in 2022, but 'called-in' by Rayner for a definitive verdict. Royal Mint Court spans 5.2 acres and its fine Georgian buildings and their modern additions boast an internal area exceeding 563,000 sq ft (52,300 sq m) - approaching twice the floorspace of Westminster Abbey. If it goes ahead, China's new embassy would have a bigger site and a larger floor area than America's, which is built on 4.9 acres of Battersea. Not only would China's new mission be the biggest in London, it would be the largest of its kind anywhere in Europe: it would even have 30 per cent more floorspace than the Chinese embassy in Washington. There is simply no precedent for a diplomatic project of this scale on British soil. Plenty of concerns have been raised about the implications for national security but perhaps no-one has a better understanding of the potential dangers than people who are already bitterly familiar with the long reach of China. 'When I first heard of that I was really frightened to be honest,' says Chloe Cheung, a 20-year-old pro-democracy activist from Hong Kong. 'It's a really huge space in central London. Why would they need that?' Cheung left Hong Kong and moved to Britain with her family in 2020 after Beijing imposed a draconian National Security law on the territory. This bid to crush the pro-democracy movement caused over 150,000 of Hong Kong's people to seek refuge in Britain. Now some wonder whether they will always be safe. On Christmas Eve last year, Hong Kong's police published an arrest warrant accusing Cheung of 'incitement to secession' and 'collusion with a foreign country', and offering a bounty of HK$1 million (£95,000) for 'information on this wanted person'. That was not because of anything Cheung had done in Hong Kong: she was only 14 when she left. Instead she was targeted for having dared campaign for democracy in her old home while living in Britain and working here for the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong. 'It's because of what I did in this country: it's only because of that that I was given a bounty,' she explains. Cheung was subjected to the arrest warrant and bounty under Hong Kong's National Security law, which punishes anything the authorities might define as 'subversion' with life imprisonment. Most chillingly of all, Articles 37 and 38 say this law 'shall apply' to anyone living anywhere in the world, setting no limits on who might become a target of the Chinese authorities. Cheung fears this could help explain China's ambition to build a colossal new embassy in London. 'The location is not about us but the size is more about us,' she says. 'They want to have more space and more people to intimidate us, to do trans-national repression.' Her fears have been supported by Parliament's human rights committee, which on Aug 1 named China as a 'flagrant' perpetrator of 'trans-national repression', targeting Hong Kong's pro-democracy campaigners and other supposed opponents for threats, harassment and intimidation on British soil. While the latest version of the Diplomatic List names 139 Chinese diplomats based in London, the new embassy would include 225 residential flats, suggesting that China wants to increase its staffing by up to 60 per cent. Cheung is deeply disturbed by that possibility. 'They could have a huge surveillance office inside Royal Mint Court and the British cannot do anything because it will be their sovereignty, their embassy,' she says. 'And it's not just about giving them space: it's about giving them face. Giving them the biggest embassy in London is like saying 'you are the most important country'.' Already Cheung must vary her route every day and 'look over my shoulder before I get home to check no-one is following me'. Once, she says she was tailed through London by two men of Chinese appearance, who followed her into a restaurant where they simply stared at her, before disappearing into a nearby hotel. Every time she writes an article or speaks in public, she is inundated with 'sexual harassment and threatening messages' online. 'It has affected my mental health,' says Cheung. 'I have to be really cautious about meeting people.' 'The reality is that the Chinese are going to pursue you wherever you are. When I was placed on the bounty list they said they would chase us to the end of the world.' She adds: 'We thought that it was going to be safe if you move here, but if you are vocal against the Hong Kong or Chinese authorities, you are constantly being harassed. When people think the UK is a safe haven for activists, it's not necessarily the case for us from Hong Kong.' As for the new embassy, Cheung says it would 'make me feel a lot more endangered than right now…. it would imply that the British Government are less and less willing to stand up for our safety'. Last month, Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, and David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, jointly condemned the National Security law, saying: 'This Government will continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong, including those who have made the UK their home. We take the protection of their rights, freedoms and safety very seriously, and will not tolerate any attempts by foreign Governments to coerce, intimidate, harass, or harm their critics overseas.' But words like these are of limited reassurance to George* (not his real name), a 22-year-old student from Hong Kong studying at a British university. Having attended some campus demonstrations in favour of democracy in Hong Kong, he now feels compelled to hide his real identity from the Telegraph. 'We still think that the UK has free speech and the UK government and police won't allow the Chinese government to exercise trans-national repression over us,' he says. 'So far I feel safe to live here.' But if the new embassy is constructed, George says: 'That would definitely change the way that we feel. The Royal Mint is a huge place so there may be a danger that the Chinese can bring their agents inside.' He warns of a chilling effect on anyone campaigning for democracy. 'Every Hong Konger in the UK may be free in body, but their minds are still in fear of the Chinese government. If the embassy is built, that may make this fear become bigger and bigger.' And George is struck by the internal contradiction in the British Government's position. 'You can't in one press release say the Chinese government is harming democracy and freedom in the UK and then, in the next press release, say we're allowing them to build a big new embassy,' he says. In January, Cooper and Lammy publicly supported the new embassy on two conditions. China would have to relinquish the seven diplomatic premises it already has in London and consolidate everything in the new embassy. In addition, China would have to build a 'gated barrier or fence' to control public access to the forecourt of Royal Mint Court in order to reduce the risk of security incidents. This conditional backing showed that the Government was, in principle, content for the embassy plan to go ahead. Back in 2018, Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary, allowed China to buy the Royal Mint Court site for £255 million, a decision that began the project. But Royal Mint Court is next to the City of London, the biggest financial centre in Europe and the second most important in the world, representing the single most vital economic asset in the United Kingdom. The fibre-optic cables serving the City and transmitting countless transactions criss-cross the area around the proposed embassy: a secure BT telephone exchange is directly adjacent to the site. There is an irony in the fact that Angela Rayner is being asked to grant permission for this project not to a close ally but to a state described by Lammy in the House of Commons as a 'sophisticated and persistent threat'. But events this week suggest the British position may be changing. As Housing Secretary, Rayner has the final say and she has suddenly asked for further assurances. It turns out that plans for the new embassy submitted for her approval omit certain details for 'security reasons'. China aims to fill the imposing main building, completed in 1812, with reception rooms, offices and a banqueting hall. But a letter from Rayner's department - revealed by Luke de Pulford, the Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China - states that the 'internal physical arrangements' in this plan have been 'greyed out' in the version she received. Plans for the basements of other buildings have also been concealed, along with the proposed layouts of the flats in the accommodation block. In total, Rayner's department has identified 52 redactions which appear to obscure key elements of what China proposes for all the main buildings on the embassy site. Redacting those details inevitably stirs suspicions that China intends to use secure underground facilities for espionage. Rayner has given the planning consultancy engaged by China's regime until August 20 to rectify these omissions. Her department's letter also discloses that China has not satisfied either of the conditions set by Lammy and Cooper. The plans do not include the new 'gated barrier or fence'. And Rayner has asked the Foreign Office for an 'update' on China's 'progress towards consolidation of accredited diplomatic premises', showing this has not been agreed. A Foreign Office spokesperson confirmed that the department would provide this update but declined any further comment. De Pulford describes the letter from Rayner's office as 'easily the most significant development' in the embassy saga, adding that it was possible that the British Government was 'looking for reasons to say no' and reject the scheme. However, the spokesperson of China's Embassy in London says the 'resubmitted planning application for the new Chinese Embassy project has taken into full consideration the UK's planning policy and guidance as well as views of all relevant parties.' The spokesperson adds: ' It is hoped that the UK side will consider and approve this planning application based on merits of the matter.' Step by step, China is steadily extending its influence in Britain, from providing the technology for renewable energy to investing in research with UK universities and preparing to export even greater numbers of electric vehicles. A grand new embassy would be a fitting symbol of how Beijing is steadily entrenching its position and advancing its interests. And part of China's plan, it seems, is to make it steadily harder for any British Government to provide people like Chloe Cheung with a safe refuge and the freedom to campaign for democracy in Hong Kong. Like its predecessors, the Government wants to build a beneficial relationship with Beijing while also upholding Britain's values - and this country's status as a place where even those who are abhorred by China's brutally authoritarian leaders can still be safe. But one day, the balancing act may become impossible and a choice will need to be made. If China is allowed to have the biggest embassy in London, a milestone may be passed. 'We have told them that our safety is at risk from this mega-embassy,' says Cheung. 'But if they still let it be built? If the UK government is walking backwards and the Chinese government is walking forwards?'
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
China's ‘super-embassy' plans in the heart of London anger locals who fear for their safety
Asia China UKFacebookTweetLink Follow It's a quiet, unassuming road that lies a stone's throw away from some of London's most celebrated landmarks. But residents of Cartwright Street could soon be looking out of their windows to the balconies of Chinese embassy staff, if plans to build a new 'super-embassy' in the area go ahead. China is pushing forward with designs for its new diplomatic outpost at Royal Mint Court, a large plot in the heart of London, near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. The imposing building, which currently lies empty, was once home to the facility that manufactured Britain's coinage. If the proposal goes ahead, China will invest several hundreds of million dollars into the building's transformation, remaking it as the largest embassy in Europe. China bought the historic parcel of land in 2018, for around $312 million. The plans have raised espionage fears, rattled locals in the area nervous for their personal security, and come at a time when bounties have been issued by Beijing for Hong Kongers in the UK. The UK has been a popular destination for many migrating from the former British colony, now a semi-autonomous Chinese city, where Beijing has cracked down hard on dissent over the past five years. Barry, an insurance broker who did not provide CNN with a surname and works in the Royal Mint Court area, compared the Chinese takeover of the site to the UK government selling off the crown jewels. 'The building is such a UK monument… it was the Royal Mint. So to give that to a foreign government, especially the Chinese with everything that's happening with the Chinese at the moment, is a bit of a joke,' he told CNN. 'Our office is just facing it, and we are one unit in a block of maybe 2,000 employees who work there, and I've not heard anybody say one good thing about it.' After much government wrangling, Angela Rayner, the UK's deputy prime minister and housing secretary, is expected to make a final decision on whether to green light the controversial plans by September 9. In a twist last week, Rayner gave China two weeks to explain why parts of the blueprint it provided for the sprawling embassy site have been blacked out. The letter, seen by Britain's PA Media news agency, sets a deadline of August 20 for Beijing to give its reasoning for the redacted information. CNN has reached out to China's embassy in London for comment. Beijing's previous application for the embassy was initially rejected by the local Tower Hamlets council in 2022 on security grounds. Beijing resubmitted the application last year just weeks after Labour returned to power in the UK, in the hopes that the new government led by Keir Starmer would be more receptive to the request. The empty Royal Mint Court had been due for redevelopment into a complex with shops, offices and a leisure center before it was bought by China. Since then, some 100 homes in the area have been classified as being on Chinese-owned land. If the embassy plans go ahead, these properties will remain on Chinese land, although they will not fall under the embassy's territory. Locals in an apartment block on western Cartwright Street could also find themselves residing adjacent to the embassy staff's living quarters. Balconies to be purposely built for diplomatic staff would be visible from the block's rear windows, CNN understands. The Royal Mint Court Residents' Association, which represents around 300 people living in nearby buildings and has engaged in a years-long battle against the plan, say they are fearful of how China could exercise its powers as landlord once the embassy is built next door. The association's treasurer, Mark Nygate, 64, lives on the estate just meters from the site. The parking lot of the block is separated from the proposed embassy site by a simple wooden fence, in what Nygate refers to as a 'soft border.' Speaking to CNN, Nygate raised concerns their Chinese landlords could carry out random searches of the properties, or residents could face accusations of spying. He explained, 'I like to take photos. I've got an allotment, and I take photos of that, but the allotment actually runs along the border.' Nygate continued, 'So quite easily you could be taking a photo of something and they're going to think you're spying. 'Because they own our land, they are our landlords and therefore they have certain rights to get in (the properties). If they find something they're not happy with, you can be damn sure they're going to come and check us out.' London's Metropolitan Police has also voiced concern over any mass demonstrations at the embassy, warning that they could impede traffic and spill over into the roads, impacting tourist areas. Meanwhile, protesters and rights groups fear that the new embassy building could facilitate espionage and Beijing's 'long-arm' law enforcement, putting opponents of the Chinese government in the UK at risk. One resident who lives near the embassy site told CNN the plans should not be allowed to go ahead. 'It's too close to Tower Bridge,' said the man, who declined to give his name. He also cited concerns over disappearances in Hong Kong. China has previously been accused of using its outposts, in effect, as overseas police stations to monitor Chinese citizens abroad and coerce them to return home. One such incident occurred in the UK in October 2022, when a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester was dragged into the grounds of a Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten, in events captured on camera. Subsequently, China removed six diplomats from Britain who police wanted to question in connection with the alleged beating. But others with key stakes in the Royal Mint area have dismissed the espionage and bounty fears as 'scaremongering.' Mark Lahiff, a local property developer who serves as managing director of the UK's subsidiary of Malaysian-based IJM, spoke in favor of the embassy's establishment at a government hearing in London in February. 'This borough, Tower Hamlets, is one of the most impoverished boroughs in the UK,' Lahiff, whose projects with IJM include the Royal Mint Gardens aparthotel, told CNN. 'For the People's Republic of China to invest into this borough is a huge investment. That site in particular has been empty since 2008.' He continued, 'It's a listed site in a strategic part of London, next to the Tower of London. We've been looking at it rotting away for decades, so to bring some life and vitality into this area, and the socio-economic benefits, are huge for the borough.' But Nygate rejects the notion that Chinese investment would be advantageous for the area, saying that redevelopment would come at the expense of the residents living there currently. 'I've been against the embassy from the start,' he said. 'It's all about prestige in the end because they (the Chinese) want to outdo the American embassy.'
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
China's ‘super-embassy' plans in the heart of London anger locals who fear for their safety
It's a quiet, unassuming road that lies a stone's throw away from some of London's most celebrated landmarks. But residents of Cartwright Street could soon be looking out of their windows to the balconies of Chinese embassy staff, if plans to build a new 'super-embassy' in the area go ahead. China is pushing forward with designs for its new diplomatic outpost at Royal Mint Court, a large plot in the heart of London, near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. The imposing building, which currently lies empty, was once home to the facility that manufactured Britain's coinage. If the proposal goes ahead, China will invest several hundreds of million dollars into the building's transformation, remaking it as the largest embassy in Europe. China bought the historic parcel of land in 2018, for around $312 million. The plans have raised espionage fears, rattled locals in the area nervous for their personal security, and come at a time when bounties have been issued by Beijing for Hong Kongers in the UK. The UK has been a popular destination for many migrating from the former British colony, now a semi-autonomous Chinese city, where Beijing has cracked down hard on dissent over the past five years. Barry, an insurance broker who did not provide CNN with a surname and works in the Royal Mint Court area, compared the Chinese takeover of the site to the UK government selling off the crown jewels. 'The building is such a UK monument… it was the Royal Mint. So to give that to a foreign government, especially the Chinese with everything that's happening with the Chinese at the moment, is a bit of a joke,' he told CNN. 'Our office is just facing it, and we are one unit in a block of maybe 2,000 employees who work there, and I've not heard anybody say one good thing about it.' After much government wrangling, Angela Rayner, the UK's deputy prime minister and housing secretary, is expected to make a final decision on whether to green light the controversial plans by September 9. In a twist last week, Rayner gave China two weeks to explain why parts of the blueprint it provided for the sprawling embassy site have been blacked out. The letter, seen by Britain's PA Media news agency, sets a deadline of August 20 for Beijing to give its reasoning for the redacted information. CNN has reached out to China's embassy in London for comment. Beijing's previous application for the embassy was initially rejected by the local Tower Hamlets council in 2022 on security grounds. Beijing resubmitted the application last year just weeks after Labour returned to power in the UK, in the hopes that the new government led by Keir Starmer would be more receptive to the request. The empty Royal Mint Court had been due for redevelopment into a complex with shops, offices and a leisure center before it was bought by China. Since then, some 100 homes in the area have been classified as being on Chinese-owned land. If the embassy plans go ahead, these properties will remain on Chinese land, although they will not fall under the embassy's territory. Locals in an apartment block on western Cartwright Street could also find themselves residing adjacent to the embassy staff's living quarters. Balconies to be purposely built for diplomatic staff would be visible from the block's rear windows, CNN understands. The Royal Mint Court Residents' Association, which represents around 300 people living in nearby buildings and has engaged in a years-long battle against the plan, say they are fearful of how China could exercise its powers as landlord once the embassy is built next door. The association's treasurer, Mark Nygate, 64, lives on the estate just meters from the site. The parking lot of the block is separated from the proposed embassy site by a simple wooden fence, in what Nygate refers to as a 'soft border.' Speaking to CNN, Nygate raised concerns their Chinese landlords could carry out random searches of the properties, or residents could face accusations of spying. He explained, 'I like to take photos. I've got an allotment, and I take photos of that, but the allotment actually runs along the border.' Nygate continued, 'So quite easily you could be taking a photo of something and they're going to think you're spying. 'Because they own our land, they are our landlords and therefore they have certain rights to get in (the properties). If they find something they're not happy with, you can be damn sure they're going to come and check us out.' London's Metropolitan Police has also voiced concern over any mass demonstrations at the embassy, warning that they could impede traffic and spill over into the roads, impacting tourist areas. Meanwhile, protesters and rights groups fear that the new embassy building could facilitate espionage and Beijing's 'long-arm' law enforcement, putting opponents of the Chinese government in the UK at risk. One resident who lives near the embassy site told CNN the plans should not be allowed to go ahead. 'It's too close to Tower Bridge,' said the man, who declined to give his name. He also cited concerns over disappearances in Hong Kong. China has previously been accused of using its outposts, in effect, as overseas police stations to monitor Chinese citizens abroad and coerce them to return home. One such incident occurred in the UK in October 2022, when a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester was dragged into the grounds of a Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten, in events captured on camera. Subsequently, China removed six diplomats from Britain who police wanted to question in connection with the alleged beating. But others with key stakes in the Royal Mint area have dismissed the espionage and bounty fears as 'scaremongering.' Mark Lahiff, a local property developer who serves as managing director of the UK's subsidiary of Malaysian-based IJM, spoke in favor of the embassy's establishment at a government hearing in London in February. 'This borough, Tower Hamlets, is one of the most impoverished boroughs in the UK,' Lahiff, whose projects with IJM include the Royal Mint Gardens aparthotel, told CNN. 'For the People's Republic of China to invest into this borough is a huge investment. That site in particular has been empty since 2008.' He continued, 'It's a listed site in a strategic part of London, next to the Tower of London. We've been looking at it rotting away for decades, so to bring some life and vitality into this area, and the socio-economic benefits, are huge for the borough.' But Nygate rejects the notion that Chinese investment would be advantageous for the area, saying that redevelopment would come at the expense of the residents living there currently. 'I've been against the embassy from the start,' he said. 'It's all about prestige in the end because they (the Chinese) want to outdo the American embassy.'
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
China's ‘super-embassy' plans in the heart of London anger locals who fear for their safety
It's a quiet, unassuming road that lies a stone's throw away from some of London's most celebrated landmarks. But residents of Cartwright Street could soon be looking out of their windows to the balconies of Chinese embassy staff, if plans to build a new 'super-embassy' in the area go ahead. China is pushing forward with designs for its new diplomatic outpost at Royal Mint Court, a large plot in the heart of London, near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. The imposing building, which currently lies empty, was once home to the facility that manufactured Britain's coinage. If the proposal goes ahead, China will invest several hundreds of million dollars into the building's transformation, remaking it as the largest embassy in Europe. China bought the historic parcel of land in 2018, for around $312 million. The plans have raised espionage fears, rattled locals in the area nervous for their personal security, and come at a time when bounties have been issued by Beijing for Hong Kongers in the UK. The UK has been a popular destination for many migrating from the former British colony, now a semi-autonomous Chinese city, where Beijing has cracked down hard on dissent over the past five years. Barry, an insurance broker who did not provide CNN with a surname and works in the Royal Mint Court area, compared the Chinese takeover of the site to the UK government selling off the crown jewels. 'The building is such a UK monument… it was the Royal Mint. So to give that to a foreign government, especially the Chinese with everything that's happening with the Chinese at the moment, is a bit of a joke,' he told CNN. 'Our office is just facing it, and we are one unit in a block of maybe 2,000 employees who work there, and I've not heard anybody say one good thing about it.' After much government wrangling, Angela Rayner, the UK's deputy prime minister and housing secretary, is expected to make a final decision on whether to green light the controversial plans by September 9. In a twist last week, Rayner gave China two weeks to explain why parts of the blueprint it provided for the sprawling embassy site have been blacked out. The letter, seen by Britain's PA Media news agency, sets a deadline of August 20 for Beijing to give its reasoning for the redacted information. CNN has reached out to China's embassy in London for comment. Beijing's previous application for the embassy was initially rejected by the local Tower Hamlets council in 2022 on security grounds. Beijing resubmitted the application last year just weeks after Labour returned to power in the UK, in the hopes that the new government led by Keir Starmer would be more receptive to the request. The empty Royal Mint Court had been due for redevelopment into a complex with shops, offices and a leisure center before it was bought by China. Since then, some 100 homes in the area have been classified as being on Chinese-owned land. If the embassy plans go ahead, these properties will remain on Chinese land, although they will not fall under the embassy's territory. Locals in an apartment block on western Cartwright Street could also find themselves residing adjacent to the embassy staff's living quarters. Balconies to be purposely built for diplomatic staff would be visible from the block's rear windows, CNN understands. The Royal Mint Court Residents' Association, which represents around 300 people living in nearby buildings and has engaged in a years-long battle against the plan, say they are fearful of how China could exercise its powers as landlord once the embassy is built next door. The association's treasurer, Mark Nygate, 64, lives on the estate just meters from the site. The parking lot of the block is separated from the proposed embassy site by a simple wooden fence, in what Nygate refers to as a 'soft border.' Speaking to CNN, Nygate raised concerns their Chinese landlords could carry out random searches of the properties, or residents could face accusations of spying. He explained, 'I like to take photos. I've got an allotment, and I take photos of that, but the allotment actually runs along the border.' Nygate continued, 'So quite easily you could be taking a photo of something and they're going to think you're spying. 'Because they own our land, they are our landlords and therefore they have certain rights to get in (the properties). If they find something they're not happy with, you can be damn sure they're going to come and check us out.' London's Metropolitan Police has also voiced concern over any mass demonstrations at the embassy, warning that they could impede traffic and spill over into the roads, impacting tourist areas. Meanwhile, protesters and rights groups fear that the new embassy building could facilitate espionage and Beijing's 'long-arm' law enforcement, putting opponents of the Chinese government in the UK at risk. One resident who lives near the embassy site told CNN the plans should not be allowed to go ahead. 'It's too close to Tower Bridge,' said the man, who declined to give his name. He also cited concerns over disappearances in Hong Kong. China has previously been accused of using its outposts, in effect, as overseas police stations to monitor Chinese citizens abroad and coerce them to return home. One such incident occurred in the UK in October 2022, when a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester was dragged into the grounds of a Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten, in events captured on camera. Subsequently, China removed six diplomats from Britain who police wanted to question in connection with the alleged beating. But others with key stakes in the Royal Mint area have dismissed the espionage and bounty fears as 'scaremongering.' Mark Lahiff, a local property developer who serves as managing director of the UK's subsidiary of Malaysian-based IJM, spoke in favor of the embassy's establishment at a government hearing in London in February. 'This borough, Tower Hamlets, is one of the most impoverished boroughs in the UK,' Lahiff, whose projects with IJM include the Royal Mint Gardens aparthotel, told CNN. 'For the People's Republic of China to invest into this borough is a huge investment. That site in particular has been empty since 2008.' He continued, 'It's a listed site in a strategic part of London, next to the Tower of London. We've been looking at it rotting away for decades, so to bring some life and vitality into this area, and the socio-economic benefits, are huge for the borough.' But Nygate rejects the notion that Chinese investment would be advantageous for the area, saying that redevelopment would come at the expense of the residents living there currently. 'I've been against the embassy from the start,' he said. 'It's all about prestige in the end because they (the Chinese) want to outdo the American embassy.'
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
China to explain redacted blueprints for 'mega-embassy' in London
If China does not do this, the deputy prime minister has ordered it to 'identify precisely and comprehensively' the withheld parts and explain why the floorplan for the basement and other areas of the Royal Mint Court development have been 'greyed out'. According to Rayner's (pictured) letter to the Chinese embassy, she highlighted that two suites of anonymous rooms and a tunnel were redacted 'for security reasons'. Other buildings on the plans were also partly greyed out, including the Cultural Exchange Building and Embassy House. It also highlights a Home Office request for a 'hard perimeter' around the embassy that may represent a 'material amendment to the application that would require further consultation'. The letter asked for further information in order for the Housing Secretary to make a 'lawful determination' on whether to allow the site to go up, adding that 'no view has been formed yet.' The new embassy, if built, would sit opposite the Tower of London in the former Royal Mint and would be China's largest in Europe. Critics fear the site will become the centre of increased espionage operations and may be used to harass Chinese dissidents. The US has already expressed 'deep concern' over the project, as it sits close to the City of London, home to some of the world's largest financial institutions. MPs in the Netherlands have also raised similar concerns. The site was sold to China by the UK government in 2018 for £255million. A full decision on whether the embassy will be allowed to be built will be made by September. It comes after diplomatic sources warned the Mail on Sunday that the new embassy will have on-site accommodation for more than 200 intelligence officers. A source said: 'There will effectively be a student-style campus for spies in the heart of the City. And those spy dungeons are so deep that the sensitive cables are virtually at head height.' The MoS can also reveal that the embassy plans exempt a 'cultural exchange' section from 'inspection and verification' by UK authorities. A US security source said 'cultural interests/exchange' is a 'euphemism for intelligence and security services', adding: 'It's where they often stuff their security and intelligence staff, among other diplomats. And if it's a "cultural" centre/space, why do they always declare it off limits in planning documents?' Ex-Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said: 'Everywhere there is a mega embassy... Chinese state-sponsored, trans-national repression of those who have fled the Chinese state or who criticise it grows dramatically. It's simple: a bigger embassy has more spies and more repression.' Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Kevin Hollinrake (pictured) said Labour had been 'caught red-handed trying to ram through this sinister embassy' in a 'desperate attempt to woo the Chinese Communist Party to bail out their failing economic policies'. He added: 'It is shocking Labour want to sign a legal document that will ban British officials checking what is being built in the embassy building. This is yet another surrender document from a Labour Government that puts foreign interests over British interests.'
