Locals are embroiled in a ‘David and Goliath fight’ with China after the country announced plans to build Europe’s largest Chinese embassy on their carpark.
Fears have been raised there is nothing but a ‘wooden fence’ that would protect those affected and ‘terrorists’ could be left ‘rubbing their hands with glee’.
David Lake is among the east London residents taking a stand against the proposal.
The dispute comes after China bought the 18-century, grade II listed Royal Mint Court near Tower Bridge six years ago and is awaiting planning permission for its new ‘super embassy’.
Proposals were previously rejected by Tower Hamlets council but have now been re-submitted and will be considered by Labour housing chief Angela Rayner.
There are fears the application could now go in China’s favour as the state waited until August to put in its plans under a potentially more sympathetic government.
It will be a decision that is also made in the wake of Rachel Reeves’ diplomatic trip to China.
Speaking to The Times, 62-year-old David Lake said he had been ‘disgusted’ at Keir Starmer asking ministers to examine the plans for the 62,000 sq ft site after President Xi raised the matter with him.
Royal Mint Building. The dispute comes after China bought the 18-century, grade II listed Royal Mint Court near Tower Bridge six years ago and is awaiting planning permission for its new ‘super embassy’
View of the building architecture of the site of the former Royal Mint in London on December 6, 2024, a site favoured by the Chinese authorities as a home for it’s new embassy
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping of China, at the Sheraton Hotel, as he attends the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Originally from Manchester, Lake suggested he was concerned the base could become a magnet for attacks, spying and traffic.
He said: ‘It’s about the security. If there’s an attack we’d get flattened. We’re operating in the world of worst-case scenarios, but the worst-case scenarios do exist. There’s no mitigation anywhere from the Chinese to help us out, none whatsoever.
‘We just believe it’s the wrong location for an embassy. The weakest spot is on our road, and it won’t take long before demonstrators will know about that, and they’ll be there. There’s a nursery on that square with little toddlers.’
Chief Executive of Crilly Consulting, Andy Williams, said he thought the choice of the Tower Hill location was ‘wholly inadequate and inappropriate from both potential terrorism and activism standpoint’.
He added: ‘The residents are going to be completely inundated. But the key thing is that in terms of the safety of the residents, they’re ludicrously proposing a wooden fence, which at one point is 1.1 metres high, with a gap you could literally put a gangplank across.’
‘Any activist will be rubbing their hands with glee, as would any terrorists, at the fact they’ve got 200 residential apartments in the embassy with a footbridge across. In some ways you don’t even need to be a security expert — it’s pretty good common sense why it would be totally inappropriate to put an embassy here.’
The comments come as counter-terrorism police have objected to the scheme given the resources required to ensure public safety.
If the development were to go ahead, red flags of the People’s Republic of China would be flown opposite the Tower off London.
Proposals were previously rejected by Tower Hamlets council but have now been re-submitted and will be considered by Labour housing chief Angela Rayner
Lake, who has lived in the area for 40 years, added: ‘We just believe it’s the wrong location for an embassy. The weakest spot is on our road, and it won’t take long before demonstrators will know about that, and they’ll be there. There’s a nursery on that square with little toddlers.’
There are also concerns the embassy could be a base for spying. Unmesh Desai, the area’s local London Assembly member, said residents were ‘rightly concerned about the reported use of Chinese diplomatic missions to act essentially as outposts of the Chinese police force abroad, policing Chinese-speaking communities across the globe and having a chilling effect on their ability to fully participate in democracy here and elsewhere’.
Chief Inspector Dave Hodges, of the Metropolitan Police, suggested protests could have a major impact on traffic in the area.
He explained: ‘In the event that more than a relatively small number of protesters attend the location, they will highly likely spill into the road. This iconic junction of Tower Hill and Tower Bridge Road has over 50,000 vehicle movements per day and is of critical importance to the Tower Bridge river crossing.’
Barry Harris is one resident who has not outright opposed the development.
He said: ‘I think if it was going to be an American embassy, a Canadian embassy, an Australian embassy, a Bangladeshi embassy, an Indian embassy, there wouldn’t be any issues,’ suggesting people were being prejudice against the Chinese.
Lake has said he is crowdfunding to employ a barrister to argue the case at a public inquiry which will begin next year.
He concluded: ‘Some people here have got the attitude that it’s a done deal.
‘Even if it was, you’ve still got to keep going until the end. It’s not over until it’s over.’
