This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.
An architect working on China’s controversial plans for a new ‘mega-embassy’ in London has revealed some of the details of the project, including a tunnel connecting two of the former Royal Mint buildings, basement rooms and accommodation for hundreds of staff.
Plans submitted to a government inquiry indicate large-scale remodeling of the buildings on the former Royal Mint site, including a large basement area with a security airlock for vehicles, suites of basement rooms and a new tunnel connecting two of the existing buildings.
A political commentator told RFA Cantonese that underground embassy and consular facilities can be much harder for security services in host countries to monitor, citing Ireland’s refusal of a Russian Embassy planning application in 2020 on national security grounds.
China purchased the former Royal Mint — near the Tower of London — in 2018 with plans to build what would become Beijing’s largest diplomatic facility globally. Plans showed that it was expected to be 10 times the size of a regular embassy.
Beijing has made two applications to build the massive new facility in London both of which were rejected by the Tower Hamlets Borough Council — the local council overseeing the neighborhood — amid a vocal campaign by rights groups.
British Metropolitan Police had earlier spoken against the planned embassy due to safety and security concerns, but withdrew its objections last month after the central government took over responsibility for the decision.
Then the council said it won’t argue against the project at a planning inquiry.
On Oct. 8, an estimated 4,000 people gathered in front of the proposed site to protest the plans, saying China would use the ‘mega-embassy’ to monitor dissidents and ordinary Chinese living outside the country.
What’s the tunnel for?
Oliver Ulmer, director of David Chipperfield Architects, told the planning inquiry in London on Feb. 12 that a new tunnel would link the main basement to that of the Siemens Registry building “to provide access.”
“The basement … will be reconfigured to provide support spaces to the embassy functions on the floors above,” he said. “These will consist primarily of facilities to support the catering of events.”
Changes will be made for “the provision of necessary security required for the embassy use,” Ulmer told Planning Inspector Claire Searson as part of a 10-day inquiry into the plan.
The plans show a large basement with a security airlock, with access to two suites of unlabeled rooms, one via the new tunnel.
However, the plans are labeled as having been “redacted for security reasons,” making any further public information on the facility unlikely.
The new ‘super-embassy,’ if approved, will include 200 residential units, from studios to three-bedroomed apartments, suggesting a large increase in the number of embassy personnel compared with current staffing levels.
Transnational repression
The planning application comes amid growing concerns over Chinese Communist Party infiltration of various aspects of British life, and warnings from Hong Kongers in exile over growing acts of violence by Beijing supporters and officials alike.
Overseas activists frequently report being targeted by agents and supporters of the Chinese state, including secret Chinese police stations in a number of countries.
China is currently believed to have 116 diplomats in the United Kingdom with diplomatic immunity, according to Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office figures from 2020, cited in The Times newspaper.
The number of apartments suggests that number could see a very sharp increase if the embassy plans are given the go-ahead by Angela Rayner, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
In March 2020, the Irish government revoked an approved planning application for a massive expansion of the Russian Embassy in the city, saying it was “likely to be harmful to the security and defence of the State and the State’s relations with other states.”
The Russians called the decision “ludicrous” at the time.
But political scholar Benson Wong said the use of basement facilities for espionage-related activities was highly likely.
“Underground tunnels can effectively prevent host country security forces from conducting surveillance of foreign diplomatic missions to collect intelligence or carry out wiretapping,” Wong said. “This means the embassy can carry out any espionage or intelligence work in a secure environment.”
“If the Labour government does nothing and allows the new Chinese Embassy to take liberties, I think the impact could be disastrous,” Wong said.
The project plans also include a formal entrance hall with ‘screening facilities’ for diplomatic visitors, a cultural exchange center and a ‘heritage interpretation center’ and conference and exhibition facilities, Ulmer told the inquiry.
A new visa application center is also planned, along with “student service” and “business services” facilities, he said.
The outdoor space includes plans for a courtyard garden with increased biodiversity and “Chinese influences,” Ulmer said.
