A proposed new Chinese embassy in London has sparked fears among local residents that it will become a hub for espionage and attract protesters angry at China's human rights record. The massive embassy, set to be China's largest in Europe, would be situated near Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Residents are expressing anger and frustration at the government, accusing them of caving to pressure from Beijing and disregarding local concerns about safety and security.
The fortified Royal Mint complex in East London resembled the set of a B-grade horror movie as it was lashed last week by the gusting winds and torrential rain of Storm Herminia. The air of menace was heightened by the multiple surveillance cameras staring down from its dilapidated ramparts, relentlessly watching the pavements outside. 'They've got eyes on you,' said Mark Nygate with a nervous smile, eager to move on.
'Recently my phone wouldn't connect and the Wi-Fi speed in my flat just dropped away. You're constantly thinking, is China trying to target me because I've opposed their embassy?' Mr Nygate is treasurer of Royal Mint Court Residents Association, his flat one of a complex of 100 homes just metres from the rear boundary of China's proposed new super-embassy, which he fears will devastate their lives. The monstrous new embassy would be China's biggest in Europe, almost twice the size of its facility in Washington, and would replace the country's diplomatic mission in Portland Place, central London. The complex, on the site of the old Royal Mint, would cover 700,000 square feet. 'Why do they even need an embassy of that size?' asks Mr Nygate. There has still not been a satisfactory answer. 'All our concerns have been ignored,' he told me. 'It's so frustrating. Like you're a little person whose life doesn't matter.' Opponents believe the complex near the Tower of London and just down the road from Tower Bridge will become a nest of Beijing spies and a magnet for protesters angry at China's increasingly thuggish behaviour and human rights abuses. They fear it will bring chaos and gridlock and undermine its World Heritage status. The local community is afraid and angry – at China, but mostly at the Starmer government. They accuse ministers of betraying them to Beijing and making a mockery of the planning process after taking a decision on the embassy away from the local authority, which had opposed it, and allegedly pressuring the police to withdraw their objections. 'I don't think I've felt so angry about anything before,' said one resident, a retiree who asked not to be named for fear of retribution. 'Everything just stinks. The government really doesn't give a damn about the people they are supposed to be responsible for.' The original proposal for the embassy was twice resoundingly rejected by Tower Hamlets Council, the local authority, where councillors feared for the safety of residents and tourists. Crucially, the police also strongly opposed the embassy. As recently as December 9, Metropolitan Police Chief Inspector David Hodges told a planning meeting that because of its location on a major arterial route into London, any demonstration would have a 'serious and significant effect to not only the local area, but also wider London'. He feared that the overstretched local police did not have the resources to cope and said the Met's opposition was the result of 'numerous internal meetings'. Yet in October last year, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner 'called in' the planning application, giving the government the final say. And last month the police abruptly lifted their objections, reportedly after re-examining a three-year-old technical document commissioned and paid for by China, which concluded that protesters could be accommodated around the site. That obliged Tower Hamlets to withdraw its objections, clearing the way for approval. A computer image of the new Chinese embassy. The monstrous embassy would be China's biggest in Europe, almost twice the size of its facility in Washington 'It's extraordinary, unprecedented and absolutely desperate,' says Kevin Hollinrake, shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who accuses the government of caving in to Chinese pressure and pressuring the police to change their position. 'You are overriding a UK planning process on behalf of a foreign power,' he told me. The Met's about-face came just days after Chancellor Rachel Reeves returned from a visit to Beijing, where she'd been courting Chinese investment, and shortly after Sir Keir Starmer admitted he had ordered Ms Rayner to 'call in' the plans following a chat with Chinese President Xi Jinping. When Sir Keir met Mr Xi on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November, he said to the Chinese leader: 'You raised the Chinese embassy building in London when we spoke on the telephone.' The remarks were picked up by broadcasters as they were being ushered out of the room. Sir Keir assured Mr Xi, 'we have since taken action by calling in that application. Now we have to follow the legal process and timeline'. The announcement of the Met's reversal came in an unprecedented intervention from the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretar
CHINA EMBASSY LONDON PROTEST SECURITY UK GOVERNMENT FOREIGN RELATIONS TOWER OF LONDON
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