The prospect of a gold-plated UK-US trade deal has been thrown into doubt because of plans for a new Chinese “mega-embassy” in London.
Donald Trump is said to be “very concerned” at the prospect of Beijing opening a sprawling 700,000 sq ft base on the site of former Royal Mint buildings.
Documents show the complex includes “two suites of anonymous unlabelled basement rooms and a tunnel”, with their exact use redacted for security reasons.
The sinister plans have sparked worry in Washington with congressmen John Moolenaar and Chris Smith already warning the UK Government would be “gifting the Chinese Communist government with the largest embassy in Europe” if the application is given the green light.
In a letter to Lord Peter Mandelson, the British Ambassador to the United States, they described the new diplomatic hub as a “counterproductive and unearned reward”.
Plans for the embassy, near the Tower of London, were blocked by the previous government after British intelligence agencies and Scotland Yard objected on the grounds that sensitive data cables that run nearby could be vulnerable to attack by Chinese spies.
But diplomatic and security tensions have heightened after the fallout from US president Mr Trump’s trade tariffs and the economic war between the world’s biggest superpowers.
Beijing’s application was revived in the run-up to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ visit to China in January, with sources claiming President Xi Jinping personally lobbying for its approval.
But it has now emerged panicked White House officials have demanded guarantees any development will not present a security threat to the US, especially the risk from sharing high-level intelligence with Britain.
A source said: “The issue has led to undoubted tension during the talks. The British have been desperate to play down the concerns, even though their own intelligence services have made their worries clear.”
British negotiators are currently thrashing out details of the trade deal struck in principle between Mr Trump and Sir Keir Starmer, which would exempt the UK from steel tariffs imposed by the US.
The Tories have accused Labour of adopting a “policy of appeasement towards state bullying and intimidation” from Beijing, saying subterranean dungeons could be used for eavesdropping or even interrogation.
Shadow levelling up secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: “It would be a barbarous irony that a site so close to the medieval Tower of London could become a modern-day dungeon under a Starmer Government.”
The Chinese government purchased Royal Mint Court – in the borough of Tower Hamlets – in 2018. It 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.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “It is likely to become a base for their pan-European espionage activities and it sits very close to the UK’s financial centre.
“We’ve seen the Chinese government cracking down on dissidents, running secret police stations in the UK, even putting bounties on the heads of dissidents, some of whom I’ve met. We should not be giving permission to this.”
Labour MP Peter Kyle said: “These issues will be taken care of assiduously in the planning process. If people raise security issues even though it relates to planning, then I’m sure we will have a fulsome response for them.”