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Large crowds gathered outside the proposed site of new Chinese “mega-embassy” in London on Saturday, as politicians and protesters expressed concerns it could be used to “control” dissidents.
More than 1,000 people congregated outside the Royal Mint Court, the former headquarters of the UK’s coin maker, near the Tower of London. The site could soon be turned into a Chinese embassy.
China bought the site and has proposed turning the two hectares (five acres) of land into the largest embassy in Europe.
Tower Hamlets council refused planning permission in 2022, citing a range of concerns including the impact of large protests at the site. The Conservative government declined to intervene.
Beijing resubmitted the application after Labour came to power and the government called it in after the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, raised it directly with Keir Starmer. Cabinet ministers Yvette Cooper and David Lammy have signalled their support for the proposal and a local inquiry hearing will begin next week.
The final decision rests with Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and housing secretary.
Those protesting, including many people from Hong Kong who have sought refuge in the UK, expressed concerns that the embassy could be used to “control” and illegally detain dissenters.
Tai, 50, a carer, said: “We come from Hong Kong. We are afraid that China will use this place to look over us, against us. In Hong Kong, we have many experience of China, the CPP, controlling the freedom and democracy and against the Hong Kong people. We all face this.”
He expressed concerns that the embassy could be used by the Chinese government “to control the Hong Kong people who live in the UK”, adding that: “People leave Hong Kong because they are afraid of the CPP.”
Another protester, who gave her name as Mitochondria, 20, expressed similar concerns. “It’s very possible that this building could be used for holding Chinese dissidents who are on British soil to be arrested in a non-legal way,” she said. “A mega-embassy would enable that to happen.”
She held a blue and white Uyghur flag. “The Chinese government has imperialist interest where they occupy the land of East Turkestan,” she said.
“There’s a genocide ongoing of the Uyghur people, the Muslim people in East Turkestan. They shouldn’t be oppressed. This is why I am holding the flag because we are in the same fight against the same authoritarian government.”
About halfway through the demonstration, officers dragged a woman to a police van. A large group of protesters dressed in black surrounded the van in an attempt to block it from leaving, shouting “let her go”.
Another woman appeared to have become unwell and was seen lying on the rain-covered road.
Fred, 29, an engineer, expressed concerns the building could be used “to catch people inside the embassy and do espionage”.
“We are the beacon of freedom in the world. It’s a shame to see this beautiful compound, our legacy, our pride, fall into a dictator’s hands.”
A number of high-profile politicians including Iain Duncan Smith, Tom Tugendhat and Labour MP Blair McDougall also spoke to protesters. Tugendhat, the former security minister, said allowing the embassy to go ahead would be a “grave mistake”.
“It would be a very clear statement that our government had chosen the wrong side and not the side that was for the defence and protection of the British people and our economic future.”
He said letting the plans go ahead would send a message to the world that the British government “hasn’t learned the lessons of the last decade” and “just hasn’t been listening”.
Tugendhat told reporters: “The reality is some people made decisions in 2010, 2013, you can understand at the time. You can see the hopefulness and the optimism with which they approached it.
“To have that same optimism in 2025? It’s not optimism any more, that’s just a wilful ignorance.”
