Residents of Royal Mint Court fear constant surveillance and potential unrest as China seeks to build a massive embassy complex near their homes. The project, deemed of 'national importance', has sparked controversy with some MPs accusing Labour leader Keir Starmer of appeasing President Xi Jinping.
Dave Lake outside the site of China ’s proposed London ‘super embassy’ which would be mere metres from his block of flats Dave Lake is the 70-year old retired engineer and chair of the residents association battling to get Starmer to block plans for China 's new gigantic embassy in London
Some MPs are concerned that Starmer is pandering to Xi Jinping by considering the project in the hope of attracting more financial investment from Beijing for the UK economy.For Dave Lake and his neighbours, however, the issue is far more personal. Lake, who is chairman of the Royal Mint Court Residents Association, despairs that the homes could be seen as a vulnerable point in the campus’s security. While the other three sides of the site would be surrounded by tall walls, he says there would only be a wooden fence between the embassy and the flats.
The police remain opposed. Jon Savell of Counter Terrorism Policing pointed out in a letter to the council that in the space of two years, 47 demonstrations are expected to have taken place outside the current Chinese embassy in Marylebone by the end of 2024, including seven with more 200 protesters. Maintaining order at events like this at the new site would involve greater logistical challenges at higher cost, he wrote last month.
An artist’s impression of what the front of the proposed Chinese ‘super embassy’ would look like, containted in planning application documents The i PaperHe hopes the Government will take note of the police guidance. “This is a main arterial road to Canary Wharf, and it sits right across from Tower Bridge, a very important route out of the City and across the river or else towards Westminster.
He grew more convinced that the Government will wave the plans through after watching footage of Starmer mentioning the embassy plan during his press conference with Xi at the G20 summit in Brazil. Lake and other residents have attended meetings with the embassy’s minister counsellor, Yuzi Xia, who is in charge of the project. He says they claim to have addressed security concerns since the first application, but Lake says this is one of a series of “lies” being spread by China.
China Embassy London Surveillance Political Controversy
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