Hundreds of demonstrators on Saturday protested at a site earmarked for Beijing’s controversial new embassy in London over human rights and security concerns.
The new embassy — if approved by the British government — would be the “biggest Chinese embassy in Europe,” one lawmaker said earlier.
Protester Iona Boswell, a 40-year-old social worker, said there was “no need for a mega embassy here” and that she believed it would be used to facilitate the “harassment of dissidents.”
Photo: AFP
China has for several years been trying to relocate its embassy, currently in the British capital’s upmarket Marylebone district, to the sprawling historic site in the shadow of the Tower of London.
The move has sparked fierce opposition from nearby residents, rights groups, critics of the Chinese Communist Party and others.
“This is about the future of our freedom, not just the site of a Chinese embassy in London,” Conservative Party lawmaker Tom Tugendhat said at the protest, adding that people living in the UK “sadly have been too often been threatened by Chinese state agents.”
“I think it would be a threat to all of us because we would see an increase in economic espionage ... and an increase in the silencing of opponents of the Chinese Communist Party” in the UK, the former security minister added.
Housing the Royal Mint — the official maker of British coins — for nearly two centuries, the site was earlier home to a 1348-built Cistercian abbey, but is currently derelict.
Beijing bought it for a reported US$327 million in 2018.
“It will be like a headquarter [for China] to catch the [Hong Kong] people in the UK to [send them] back to China,” said a protester dressed all in black and wearing a full face mask, giving his name only as “Zero,” a member of HongKongers in Leeds.
“After the super embassy [is built] maybe they will have more people to do the dirty jobs,” he added.
The protest comes as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks more engagement with Beijing, following years of deteriorating relations over issues such as China’s rights crackdown in Hong Kong. In November last year, Starmer became the first British prime minister since 2018 to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), when the pair held talks at the G20 in Brazil.
A national planning inspector is to hold a public inquiry into the scheme, but British Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner would make the final decision.
That has alarmed opponents who fear the Labour government’s emphasis on economic growth, and improved China ties, could trump other considerations.
Multiple Western nations accuse Beijing of using espionage to gather technological information.
They have also accused hacking groups backed by China of a global campaign of online surveillance targeting critics.
The US, the UK and New Zealand in March last year accused Beijing-backed hackers of being behind a series of attacks against lawmakers and key democratic institutions — allegations that prompted angry Chinese denials.
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