China has resubmitted its application to build a new "super embassy" in London despite being rejected in 2022 amid a vocal campaign by rights groups, who warned it would facilitate espionage and " long-arm" law enforcement by Beijing.
The application to redevelop a huge complex of heritage buildings just three miles from Westminster that was once owned by the Royal Mint and acquired by the Chinese government six years ago was validated by Tower Hamlets Borough Council on July 16 but not widely publicized until this week.
Benedict Rogers, head of the London-based rights group Hong Kong Watch, which opposed the first plan amid surveillance, beatings and harassment of Hong Kongers in Britain, said the group would be campaigning against the new application.
"Looks like we have some more campaigning work to do, folks, to stop this #CCP project once again," Rogers said via his X account on Aug. 10. "It means more spies, more infiltration, more intimidation, more harassment."
According to the application summary on the Council website, the Chinese government is once more applying for a massive redevelopment project at Royal Mint Court.
It includes the refurbishment and restoration of the Johnson Smirke Building as well as the partial demolition, remodeling and refurbishment and extension of several more buildings on the site to house an embassy and a huge "cultural exchange center."
Documents posted along with the application revealed plans for a vast basement area linked by a tunnel to the basement of another building.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy confirmed the move in a statement on its website on Thursday, saying a new embassy would help Chinese diplomats to "promote the friendship between the Chinese and British people."
"Host countries have the international obligation to support and facilitate the building of the premises of diplomatic missions," the statement said, adding that the United Kingdom also needs new premises for its embassy in Beijing.
"The two sides should provide facilitation to each other," it said.
‘Golden Age’ is over
The renewed bid to redevelop the site comes after the Labour Party's landslide election victory in July and amid unconfirmed media reports that Foreign Secretary David Lammy is planning a trip to China to "kick-start high-level engagement" in September, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Development officials at London's Tower Hamlets borough council voted unanimously on Dec. 1, 2022, to reject an application for planning permission for the new embassy, citing security fears, as well as the potential impact on tourism, policing and heritage.
The Strategic Development Committee said the plan, which included dormitories accommodating hundreds of employees and a landmark "cultural exchange" building, had attracted dozens of objections from residents of the surrounding area, which is home to a large Muslim community.
The plan was also opposed to by groups representing Hong Kongers in the U.K., who have been attacked both by pro-China thugs and by consular officials on British soils, and Uyghurs, who face security risks from Beijing's overseas policing and infiltration, which include unofficial renditions of government critics, often by using loved ones back home as leverage.
The decision came after then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in his first foreign policy speech that the "golden age" of U.K.-China relations was over, amid fears of growing Chinese influence at Westminster and following violent attacks on British soil by agents and supporters of the Chinese state, including the Chinese Consul General in Manchester.
Say ‘no’
An op-ed in the conservative weekly news magazine The Spectator called on the government to say no again to the plan.
"The previous Tory government may not have been very successful in containing the global ambitions of China, but at least it tried," the article said. "Whether David Lammy's Foreign Office has the same ambition to stand up to Beijing's bullying is unfortunately becoming more doubtful."
The planned super-embassy would be 10 times as big as China's current facility in Portland Place, forming a "massive campus" that would be the largest diplomatic compound in the U.K., if built, and would attract frequent protests, as well as being problematic due to Beijing's human rights record, the article said.
"If the UK government does allow the scheme having previously blocked it, China will be able to say that it cannot be pushed around on issues such as espionage or human rights," it warned.
Tower Hamlets received 51 objections to the initial proposals, citing safety and security concerns as well as the potential risk of protests in the area, The Telegraph newspaper reported.
Translated with additional reporting by Luisetta Mudie.