China purchased a huge 700,000-square-foot property worth £255 million in 2018. The former location of London’s Royal Mint is now a 70,000 sq. ft.
It consists of multiple large buildings located just a stone’s throw from Tower Bridge, the iconic landmark in the historic heart of London.
Agents representing the People’s Republic of China filed plans for an embassy that would be ten times larger than China’s current post near Paddington.
After a protest by local residents concerned that the compound would become a police, monitoring, and harassment center, the Tower Hamlets council rejected the plans.
Madrid-based Safeguard Defenders claims that Beijing has established more than 100 overseas police stations around the globe to monitor, harass, and sometimes repatriate Chinese citizens in exile.
They also have evidence that China has had 48 additional overseas police stations since September 2022 when the group revealed the existence of 54 of them.
Unofficial consular activities that are not declared by a country’s diplomatic missions are illegal and a serious breach of diplomatic protocols.
China appeals to Tower Hamlet’s rejection of the plans. The rules state that the appeal process will not take into account “local sentiment”.
Experts believe the appeal will succeed based on technical merit. Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Housing needs to be available to cancel this outrageous project due to national security reasons.
The UK and London should not accept such a foreign threat in such a location, against the backdrop of accusations of illegal policing, intimidation, and other allegations.
