LABOUR MPs have urged the PM to block plans for a Chinese super embassy in London over fears it will be a spying hub.
It follows the emergence of plans showing an underground chamber beside cables carrying financial data between the City and Canary Wharf.
The 208-room underground site, beneath the former Royal Mint, would be the largest Chinese diplomatic mission in Europe.
MPs warned the project risks espionage and intimidation – with one hidden chamber stretching up to 40 metres across next to the data cables.
Labour’s Sarah Champion said China was a hostile state and urged the PM to “stand up to bullies, not reward them”.
Alex Sobel, who represents Leeds Central and Headingley, added: “This new super-embassy is a real threat to Hong Kongers, to Uighurs and other members of the Chinese diaspora that don’t toe the party line in Beijing.”
Mark Sedwards, the MP for Leeds South West and Morley, raised alarm over one of his constituents, who has had a six-figure bounty placed on her head by China.
Mr Sedwards said: “She walks around every day knowing that anyone here could claim that bounty by taking her to the Chinese embassy and handing her over to the authorities.
“And now she worries that she might find herself locked away in one of the secret rooms in the new embassy plans.”
Despite the backlash in the Commons, Sir Keir is still expected to sign off the plans ahead of a visit to China to meet Xi Jinping.
Housing and Planning Minister Matthew Pennycook sought to reassure Labour MPs, insisting ministers would take “all material planning considerations into account.”
A planning decision is due later this month.
