Damoclean or diplomatic? Embassy goes ahead

Revival of UK-China cybersecurity dialogue; China and Chagos

Observing China is the essential newsletter to understand the UK-PRC relationship, explained in the context of global developments.

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The fourth time’s the charm. The long wait is over; approval for Beijing’s largest embassy in Europe is now granted. His Majesty’s (HM) Government delayed the decision three times as it sought to buy time to conduct thorough security reviews and listen to the concerns of nearby residents.

The embassy caused an increasing amount of diplomatic disquiet between London and Beijing over the past few years. Friends in the diplomatic service told me that Beijing would raise the ‘embassy issue’ in nearly every bilateral meeting, regardless of its relevance to the main topics at hand. In fairness, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) purchased the site for this purpose nearly eight years ago, greenlit by Boris Johnson, then Foreign Secretary – so why did it take longer than the Brexit negotiations?

A major reason why the CCP is so eager for this large embassy is to consolidate its six sites across London (one for each major sectoral focus of the diplomatic mission) into one premises. When I worked at Taiwan’s de facto embassy in London, the mission also had separate sites for each of its functions throughout the capital, and also recently merged them all into one site.

The approval of Beijing’s ‘mega embassy’ is not really a surprise. The British public has been primed for this decision for some time now. Last November, Richard Moore, former Head of MI6, published an op-ed in The Telegraph, wherein he wrote that it was ‘right and proper’ that the new embassy go ahead. But relevant authorities are not saying that this decision is wholly without risk.

The heads of MI5 and Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) clarified that it will not be possible to nullify every potential threat emanating from the new supersized embassy. The security services have developed a ‘“proportionate” package’ of national security mitigations for the embassy’s site. It has also been decided to move the sensitive data cables which currently pass one metre from the site.

What did the rest of the world have to say about the embassy? And what is the People’s Republic of China (PRC) saying about the growing tensions between the United States (US) and European nations?

Welcome back to Observing China.