China Plans to Build a Fortress Embassy in London, To Which Security-Based Objections Are Raised

Allowing the Chinese to build this in the heart of London is complete and utter madness https://t.co/EaG4S3uTh2

— Camilla Tominey (@CamillaTominey) August 7, 2025

BBC has more on this, including a regular Chinese laundry list of security concerns:

The plan itself involves a cultural centre and housing for 200 staff, but in the basement, behind security doors, there are also rooms with no identified use on the plans. 

There is another fear, held by some opponents, that the Royal Mint Court site could allow China to infiltrate the UK's financial system by tapping into fibre optic cables carrying sensitive data for firms in the City of London. 

The site once housed Barclays Bank's trading floor, so it was wired directly into the UK's financial infrastructure. Nearby, a tunnel has, since 1985, carried fibre optic cables under the Thames serving hundreds of City firms. 

And in the grounds of the Court, is a five-storey brick building - the Wapping Telephone Exchange that serves the City of London. 

According to Prof Periklis Petropoulos, an optoelectronics researcher at Southampton University, direct access to a working telephone exchange could allow people to glean information.

Against all that, if there are any good arguments in favor of this Great Diplomatic Wall of China, I didn't catch them.