Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch joined hundreds of protesters outside China‘s proposed new ‘mega-embassy’ on Saturday – as intelligence experts warned that the site could become Beijing‘s pan-European spying hub.
Plans for the site by the Tower of London were blocked by the last Tory government on security grounds, but they have been put back on the table by Sir Keir Starmer who is hoping to fly to China at the end of the month for trade talks.
The Mail on Sunday has led the way in revealing the concerns of British security experts about the planned development over the past year, including the presence of a ‘spy dungeon’ in the basement close to sensitive City data cables.
Security sources denied reports that they had dropped their concerns over the embassy, saying that EU countries had raised fears that it may not just become a hub for China intelligence operations in the UK, but for their spying throughout Europe.
A source said: ‘At the moment, their people are spread out across different sites in the capital. That makes it easier for us to track them. They’re moving around.
‘They’re using electronic comms to communicate. We can have eyes on them. But if their operations become centralised in this giant hub it would become much harder to penetrate them.’
The source added: ‘They are obsessed with infiltrating Parliament. It’s a major focus of their activity here in the UK.
‘We’re not sure if it’s because they’ve misinterpreted how influential your average MP is. But they are still deploying major time and assets to getting inside the Commons and the Lords. And that will intensify if the super embassy gets the green light’.
Kemi Badenoch speaks to crowds protesting against a proposal to move China’s embassy to the site of the former Royal Mint in London on Saturday
Pictured: Concept plans for the embassy which will be located on the former Royal Mint site
Mrs Badenoch said China was a country that has ‘harassed and sanctioned our MPs’ and ‘harassed and abused British nationals connected to China’.
She added: ‘We do not want a country that spies on our MPs having this super-embassy right here.’
Ministers have promised to make a decision on whether to grant the Chinese embassy planning per-mission by this Tuesday.
