This is the wrong embassy, in the wrong place, at the wrong time
London Assembly member Unmesh Desai is opposing the plan for the Chinese embassy
The debate around the proposed Chinese Embassy at Royal Mint Court has been rolling since 2019, and has now come to a head.
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The site sits on the border of Tower Hamlets and the City of London, and I represent both in City Hall - so I have been taking an active interest in listening to locals and raising concerns.
My objection isn’t based on foreign policy or political point-scoring, but from a planning perspective and the impact on the area.
Financial institutions and big businesses based nearby in the City are raising concerns about their security and data networks, which they fear could be tapped into by the embassy.
This concern is made worse by the refusal so far to release redacted information about the building. This is unheard of for a planning application, let alone one of this size. We need reassurance that all parts of the embassy will be used in line with internationally agreed protocols.
The streets around the site are narrow, heavily used and already congested. A large protest outside could block Tower Bridge and some of London’s arterial roads that begin nearby.
Local residents are unhappy and have staged 35 protests since 2019. I have attended a few of these peaceful protests myself and heard how uneasy people are about the embassy’s presence. I have personally experienced being asked to move on by security for simply observing the site.
Tower Hamlets is home to one of the oldest Chinese communities in the UK, which has been bolstered in recent years by new arrivals who work in the financial sector. They, in particular, are fearful for their safety, having come to the UK to build businesses, raise families and establish new lives.
They value London as a safe place and tell me that the prospect of this embassy leaves them feeling anxious and unsettled, rather than reassured.
It is entirely reasonable to pause and ask whether this is the right location for an embassy of such size and sensitivity. China is a key UK trading partner and one of the world’s biggest economies. Of course, it should have an embassy - just one in a more appropriate location.
Ministers should have listened to the residents and businesses who will live with the consequences long after this planning decision.
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Unmesh Desai is a Labour London Assembly Member for City and East
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