Two senior figures in US-China relations in Congress have called on Lord Mandelson to block the development of a huge 700,000 square foot Chinese ‘super-embassy’ in the heart of London – in a fresh diplomatic headache for Sir Keir Starmer ahead of his crucial meeting with President Trump.
Reps John Moolenaar and Chris Smith, in an open letter to the new British Ambassador to the US, warned that the UK government would be “gifting the Chinese Communist government with the largest embassy in Europe”.
The congressmen, who are senior members of the Congressional Select Committee on the CCP, described the new diplomatic hub as “a counterproductive and unearned reward”.
They added that the move would “only embolden its efforts to intimidate and harass UK citizens and dissidents and experts across Europe who oppose or criticise its policies.”
Moolenaar and Smith also urged Starmer to use his meeting with Trump to discuss diplomatic efforts to free Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong businessman and pro-democracy campaigner detained in Hong Kong since 2020.
“We know that Prime Minister Starmer has expressed concern about Jimmy Lai’s detention and promised to make his release a UK government ‘priority.’ We urge him to use his meeting with President Trump to coordinate efforts to gain Lai’s unconditional release.”
The new embassy is planned to be built on the historic site of Royal Mint Court in East London.
The Chinese government purchased Royal Mint Court – in the borough of Tower Hamlets – in 2018, which was originally the site of a medieval abbey before it was rebuilt to house the Royal Mint in 1830.
Their current embassy – a grand complex in Marylebone – was established in 1877.
Tom Tugendhat, the former UK security minister and former chair of the parliamentary China Research Group, criticised the development earlier this month as “a grave mistake”.
“China already has an embassy in London. This proposed move is an echo of the past. The Golden Era is over,” he added.
The former Tory leader and China sceptic Iain Duncan-Smith has also slammed the development as “absolutely the wrong place for a vast new Chinese Embassy”.
The prime minister has previously pushed for a “consistent, respectful and pragmatic” approach to China, and met President Xi Jinping last November at the G20 summit in Brazil.
He is set to be the first UK leader to visit Beijing since Theresa May in 2018.