The far-left U.K. Labor government led by Keir Starmer appears set to approve Communist China’s plans to build the biggest embassy in Europe. This, despite widespread fears that the massive fortress would become a major London espionage hub used to also target dissidents across the continent, and intercept vital internet traffic in one of the world’s major financial centers.
I warned about this danger in August 2025 when news broke of the possibility that the new Labour Party government was reconsidering a Chinese proposal for a massive new super embassy in London. I wrote: “What the hell is the British government thinking?
Adding: “Security experts and senior Republicans in the U.S. have sounded the alarm, warning that allowing China to use this site as its embassy (making it sovereign territory of China), would allow China to turn it into a massive spy base.”
As I wrote then, a recent CSIS report notes that:
China could also design parts of the building to optimize for intelligence collection, such as multistory buildings optimized for line-of-sight signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection. In previously submitted architectural plans, China proposed constructing a seven-story Embassy House featuring a rooftop structure of unclear purpose. It could house additional floors, including sensitive communications and collection equipment. Part of the proposed Embassy House faces directly northwest, which may provide unobstructed views of 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) and other key buildings in London’s financial district. This tactic has precedent: In 2022, Beijing sought to construct a 70-foot white pagoda in Washington, D.C.’s National Arboretum—a project ultimately blocked after the FBI determined it could be used to spy on Congress.
While many hoped that the idea would again be shut down, apparently Beijing paid a lot of money, used a lot of blackmail, and put pressure on Starmer and his cronies because the outrageous plan seems to be back on. It must be stopped.
If built though, the new embassy complex at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London would consolidate Beijing’s now spread-out diplomatic footprint on a single, highly secured site.
Local residents and rights groups have raised security, protest-management and heritage concerns, with concerns being raised about a subterranean “spy” facility. Beijing’s detailed specifications have not been made public, but The Telegraph obtained unredacted copies of the plans.
They appear to show a large room with adequate cooling and ventilation for a data center to be built just one meter from fiber optic cables to the City of London and Canary Wharf financial centers.
These centers are part of the London Internet Exchange (LINX), one of the biggest hubs in the world, carrying secure data essential to the running of the U.K. and global economy.
As the BBC reported earlier:
[The Royal Mint Court] site once housed Barclays Bank’s trading floor, so it was wired directly into the UK’s financial infrastructure. Nearby, a tunnel has, since 1985, carried fibre optic cables under the Thames serving hundreds of City firms.
And in the grounds of the Court, is a five-storey brick building – the [British Telecom] Wapping Telephone Exchange that serves the City of London.
The Chinese would be especially able to infiltrate the U.K.’s financial system by tapping into fiber optic cables carrying sensitive data for firms in the City of London and Canary Wharf, which together form the world’s second-largest financial center and the nerve center of the city.
The extensive underground facilities at the site would easily facilitate clandestine access to fiber-optic cables and would likely house Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) or Ministry of Public Security (MPS) operations rooms and collection centers.
The new Chinese fortress, ringed with CCTV cameras, is already being patrolled by Chinese security guards. Many fear the new site could be used to surveil, track, harass, and possibly detain Chinese, Tibetan, or other dissidents living in the U.K.
“This is not just a building; this is an extension of the Chinese Communist Party’s power in the U.K.,” said Chloe Cheung, a representative of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.
For all these reasons, risks and dangers, and more, former U.K. Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned that the new super embassy could jeopardize intelligence sharing with the United States and the broader Five Eyes alliance composed of the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
And he is correct. As CSIS noted:
On June 7, a senior Trump administration official voiced concern, stating that the United States is “deeply concerned about providing China with potential access to the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Times also reported that President Trump previously urged Starmer to reject the proposal during trade talks in May. Should the project be approved, the Trump administration may have more reservations about sharing intelligence with the United Kingdom, fearing that China could gain access to highly secret U.S. sources and methods.
Trump and his team should reiterate this concern and remind Starmer that if he goes forward with this grand folly, he is risking vital intelligence sharing with America at a critical and extremely dangerous moment in history, especially for Britain.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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I guess I’m not shocked at all. The UK Communists are welcoming their CCP masters with open arms. I suppose the British people will be expected to pay for this spy hub also?
I know, to criticize the UK Government gets me banned, so what. It’s the truth.
Starmer is cutting England’s throat ! He ‘got a check’ !