Resistance to the £225m project from ministers, councillors and police has gradually been extinguished by big pressure and small gifts.
The Chinese government’s long campaign to create a new embassy by the Tower of London has involved the politics of international diplomacy and the politics of the town hall.
On the sidelines of the G20 summit last year, President Xi lobbied Sir Keir Starmer about the proposed renovation of the Royal Mint Court, a £225 million property that for more than a century served as the site for manufacturing the nation’s coins. His warning was clear: a reset in relations and future investment depended on the project being approved.
A year earlier, official records now reveal, the People’s Republic adopted a softer approach towards the council in whose gift the application lay. It bestowed a gift of a single box of biscuits upon Lutfur Rahman, the Tower Hamlets mayor, who had been removed from office for electoral fraud a decade earlier, only to come back as an independent. Its declared value: £25. Late last year China gave a bottle of wine, in this instance worth £20, to one of Rahman’s allies: a councillor, Iqbal Hossain, who was vice-chairman of the committee reviewing the application. One local powerbroker, speaking on condition of anonymity, recalled being sent a box of mooncakes (a delicacy), a bottle of Chinese white wine, a desk diary, a book on tea and a bottle of red wine.
It now appears China is within touching distance of victory after Starmer asked Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary, to “call in” the scheme. This means she will have the final say, as opposed to the council or the London mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan, following an unusually speedy inquiry that finished hearing evidence on Thursday. She must act as a quasi-judge, acting neutrally and taking into account the apparent merits of the scheme. Any evidence of bias, or procedural errors, could be used to challenge the decision. Yet China critics fear the die is cast.
If she approves it, Beijing will have the largest embassy in all of Europe: a sign of diplomatic and economic strength eclipsing even the £1 billion US embassy a short ride down the Thames.
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Fear of spying hub
Most bullish of all is China itself. Last week Christopher Katkowski KC, the country’s barrister, filed a document in which he lashed out at those who had criticised the Met’s sudden U-turn, saying allegations of government influence were “ludicrous”, “absolute nonsense” and “reflect very badly on those who made them”. As for the proposed barrier, he said that, while China wished to have “the best of relations” with the Foreign Office, it rejected the idea outright.
He said that the People’s Republic had asked him to state on the record that Lammy’s “concern can be addressed through measures based on further discussion between the relevant parties”, including the ambassador granting the British government permanent access to the paved forecourt.
As Rayner weighs up whether to approve the scheme, those offering outright opposition are a coalition of Chinese dissidents, critics of the Chinese Communist Party and MPs belonging to the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, such as Duncan Smith. They are also joined by residents who do not want a Chinese “spy-hub” overshadowing their area. Earlier this month, all groups were out in force outside Royal Mint Court to stage a protest, numbering some 3,000, to remind ministers of the depth of opposition to the project and to challenge the Met’s belated insistence that the site can easily accommodate such numbers.
One person present was Chloe Cheung, a 19-year-old pro-democracy activist living in the UK who is the subject of a £100,000 bounty issued by the Hong Kong government. She says the stakes could not be higher, describing the embassy as an “expansion of the CCP on British soil”.
She said: “”It will be a huge surveillance hub in the future if it is built. For us who have a bounty on our head, from Hong Kong or from China, from Tibet, from Uighur, from Taiwan, we worry this will give them the space to do more surveillance.” Pointing to the previous use of unofficial Chinese “police stations” in the UK and violent tactics against dissidents, she said: “Having a larger embassy means more people have diplomatic protection to do whatever they want.” Asked about the government’s evolving stance, Cheung added: “”It’s mainly because of the £600 million [investment] deal by [Rachel] Reeves with China, but for me it’s too naive to just sign a deal and say, ‘Oh, the UK can give whatever the Chinese want’ and say yes to whatever terms and conditions …it’s not worth betraying those who believe the plan will threaten their safety.”
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As an addition: The UK stands here with Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan in a rare show of global solidarity as these countries also announced new sanctions against Russia.