Plans for a new Chinese ‘super embassy’ in London would include on-site accommodation for more than 200 intelligence officers, it has been revealed.
News of the proposed ‘spy campus’ has added fresh controversy to China’s redevelopment bid for the historic Royal Mint buildings near the Tower of London.
Downing Street is considering the plans — previously shelved by the last government — following personal lobbying by Chinese President Xi Jinping, The Mail on Sunday reports.
A source said: “There will effectively be a student-style campus for spies in the heart of the City. And those spy dungeons are so deep that the sensitive cables are virtually at head height.”
A “cultural exchange” area within the embassy plans is reportedly exempt from UK inspection and verification. A security source told the Mail on Sunday the term is a “euphemism for intelligence and security services”.
[…]
Planning documents for the proposed embassy site reveal “two suites of anonymous unlabelled basement rooms and a tunnel,” with their intended purpose redacted “for security reasons”.
[…]
A 12-day public inquiry into the plans took place in February. A report by the Planning Inspectorate — an executive agency of the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government — is now believed to recommend approval.
Tower Hamlets Council originally rejected the application in 2022. However, the case was later called in by then-deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, who used her ministerial powers to take the final decision away from the local authority.