A spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said that China’s plan to build a mega-complex in London could give Britons a security advantage, the BBC reports.
Downing Street highlighted the security advantages of merging seven Chinese-run sites scattered across London into one. Meanwhile, a decision on planning permission has been delayed for the third time and will be made next year.
Some believe that if the plans for the Chinese embassy mega-complex are allowed to go ahead, it will become a spy hub in the heart of London. Regardless, the government is expected to give the green light for the project on the 20th of January. The decision is believed to have been delayed to give the government more time to negotiate with all parties involved.
In a letter seen by one of the parliamentary groups opposing the plan, the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary said they were working to assess all the national security issues surrounding the new embassy project. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said their considerations had been tempered by China’s agreement to relocate all its diplomats to one location if the plan was approved.
A spokesman for Starmer said the Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary had given their views on certain security issues and made it clear that
no decision would be taken until the issues were resolved.
If the plan is approved, the Chinese embassy will be the largest in Europe, with space for 200 staff. At the same time, the planned location of the embassy is next to fibre optic cables that carry highly sensitive data. The suspicions were raised by the fact that part of the submitted planning drawings was left blank, and this was justified by security concerns. In the summer, Starmer’s deputy Angela Rayner gave China two weeks to explain what the unmarked spaces on the drawings would be used for, and China appears to have complied.
The Chinese embassy in Britain has previously said that the new mega-complex would enhance mutually beneficial cooperation, and officials have said that objections to the location are unfounded.
The head of Britain’s MI5 intelligence service has described Chinese agents as a threat to national security.
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