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American legislators have expressed their concern in the United Kingdom about the China’s plan to build a massive embassy in London while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to meet President Donald Trump.
Chris Smith, Republican President of the Congress Executive Commission on China, and John Moolenaar, the China Chief Republican Committee, said they feared that the United Kingdom will reward China despite its human rights files and transnational repression.
“The Chinese Communist Government of the largest embassy in Europe is a counterproductive and unaware award,” the legislators at the British ambassador Peter Mandelson wrote on Wednesday.
Smith and Molenaar said that leaving China to build a huge embassy on the site of the former Mint Royal court would reward her when thousands of political prisoners, including the media magnate and British citizen Jimmy Lai, were detained in Hong Kong.
Lai, who has founded Apple Daily, now disappeared, has been detained in Hong Kong since 2020. The pro-democracy activist is accused of foreign collusion and conspiracy to publish seditious material through his media group, accused that he denies.
“Concede to the Chinese communist government, a certain diplomatic frequentation in the United Kingdom will only give up its efforts to intimidate and harass citizens and dissidents and experts in Europe who oppose or criticize its policies,” they added.
Critics of the United Kingdom and the United States have also raised concerns about letting Beijing build an embassy so close to the city of London due to the site of the critical communication infrastructure which could facilitate espionage.
“This is a special place where the sons and the pipes take place below,” said Tom Togendhat, conservative deputy and former British Minister of State for Security.
Togendhat, who is also a member of the Hudson Institute for Washington Institute, said that allowing Beijing a mega embassy there had sent an inappropriate message given the way China acted in the world.
“The embassies tell a story, and the story that this embassy tells is that it will be the greatest outpost of the Chinese Communist Party in Europe,” said Tugendhat.
Smith and Moolenaar asked Mandelson to relay their concerns about the Starmer Embassy during his visit. It is not yet known whether the Trump administration has expressed a point of view to the British government on the planned embassy.
“We know that Prime Minister Starmer expressed his concern about Jimmy Lai’s detention and promised to make his release a” priority “in the United Kingdom,” they said. “We urge him to use his meeting with President Trump to coordinate the effects to obtain the unconditional LAI release.”
In October, Trump told Hugh Hewitt Show that he would secure the release of lai. “100%. . . It will be easy to go out.
The push of the US Congress occurs while the United Kingdom intensifies diplomatic engagement with China, having accused the previous conservative government of having weakened the important communication channels.
British Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Minister David Lammy have visited Beijing in recent months. Starmer should travel there this year. China is considered by the British Labor government as a key source of additional investment in the United Kingdom.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in London said: “The local investigation into the planning request is completed. The British team should consider and approve this planning request on an early date. »»
The Chinese embassy has committed to “the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries,” added the spokesperson.
