The United States has raised concerns over China’s plans to build a massive ‘super embassy’ at Royal Mint Court in London.
Royal Mint Court sits between the City of London and Canary Wharf, a location which has raised concerns over the risk of espionage due to its proximity to critical infrastructure and data centres.
US officials told The Sunday Times they were deeply concerned over the risk to sensitive financial data, concerns which are shared by Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
Speaking on Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Philips, Philp said he agreed with the United States’ assessment that it was a security risk.
“We should not be allowing the Chinese to build this super embassy. It is likely to become a base for their pan-European espionage activities,” he said.
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation, and Technology Peter Kyle told the programme that this type of issue is dealt with all the time related to the planning of embassies in the United Kingdom.
“These issues will be taken care of assiduously in the planning process,” he said.
“The key thing is these are issues which are quite routinised in the way that we deal with the security of our country.”
The freehold to Royal Mint Court was purchased by China in 2018 with the intention of extensively renovating the Grade II-listed building into a massive embassy with more than 200 planned residencies.
The plan for the construction of the Chinese embassy at Royal Mint Court was initially refused by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 but has since progressed to a further planning stage, though it remains subject to government approval.
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