Croydon South MP Chris Philp has warned giving permission to a new Chinese ‘super embassy’ being built near London’s financial centres will be a ‘security risk’ as it is ‘very likely the Chinese would use it to organise espionage activities’. There are reports the White House has alerted Downing Street against allowing the embassy to be built near the City of London.
More than a thousand demonstrators took to the streets of central London earlier this year to protest against the proposed embassy. Ministers are expected to make a final decision on the redevelopment plans at the historic former site of the Royal Mint, after it was rejected by the local council, Tower Hamlets.
When Mr Philp, who is the Conservative’s shadow home secretary, was asked for his opinion on the USA’s reported remarks on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News today (June 8) he said: “Well, I agree with the United States. We think it is a security risk.
“In government the Conservatives were very clear, 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 and it sits very close to, of course, the UK’s financial centre, it’s very close to three critical data centres… data cables connecting for example Canary Wharf to the City, run very close or indeed even underneath the site, and it is very likely the Chinese would use it to organise espionage activities.
“We’ve seen the Chinese government cracking down on dissidents, running secret police stations in the UK, even putting bounties on the heads of dissidents, some of whom I’ve met. We should not be giving permission to this.”
Government minister speaks to ‘reassure’ public
The Government’s Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle said a “fulsome response” will be given to any security concerns raised. Also appearing on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News he said: “These issues will be taken care of assiduously in the planning process.
“But just to reassure people, we deal with embassies and these sorts of infrastructure issues all the time. We are very experienced of it, and we are very aware of these sorts of issues constantly, not just when new buildings are being done, but all the time.”
Asked about the US warning, he said: “These are the issues that we talk about as two countries all the time… we’re in the Five Eyes agreement, America and Britain share intelligence… We are one of the few countries in the world that share intelligence.”
Mr Kyle added: “If people raise security issues even though it relates to planning, then I’m sure we will have a fulsome response for them. But look, the key thing is, these are issues which are quite routinised in the way that we deal with the security of our country.
“This is not new. It’s going through planning. These are issues that will be dealt with in that process.”
‘The super embassy poses a super risk’
Earlier in the week when speaking in the Commons, shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart accused the Government of being “too weak” to block the plans. He said: “The Government’s own cyber experts, Innovate UK, have warned the Government that the proposed Chinese embassy at the Royal Mint threatens to compromise the telephone and internet exchange that serves the financial City of London.
“The experts are now telling the Government what everyone else has known all along: the super embassy poses a super risk. Yet the Deputy Prime Minister’s office has said that any representations on the planning application have to be made available to the applicants.
“So perhaps the real Deputy Prime Minister can clear this up – is the Government seriously saying that if MI5 or GCHQ have concerns about security on this site, those concerns will have to be passed to the Chinese Communist Party or has the Deputy Prime Minister (Angela Rayner) got it wrong?”
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden replied: “When it comes to both engagement with China and with an issue like this, we will of course engage properly and always bear in mind our own national security considerations.” He also accused Tory governments of opting to “withdraw” from engaging with China for a number of years after they had previously sought a “golden era” with Beijing.
A spokesperson for Innovate UK said it “has not raised any concerns”, adding: “Innovate UK does not have responsibility for cyber security.” Comments referred to by Mr Burghart are understood to have been made in a personal capacity.
Mr Burghart went on to say: “At the heart of this are two simple facts. First, the Government already knows that this site is a security risk; it’s a security risk to the City of London and through it our economy and the economies of all nations that trade in London.
“Second, the Government has the power to block it. Ireland and Australia have both already blocked similar embassy developments. Why is this Government too weak to act?”
In his reply, Mr McFadden said: “A decision on this application will be taken in full consideration of our national security considerations. That is always part of this and it is part of our engagement with China and with other countries.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves flew to China in January to meet with the country’s leaders and set out a path towards further investment into Britain.
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