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London
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\n It\u2019s a quiet, unassuming road that lies a stone\u2019s throw away from some of London\u2019s most celebrated landmarks.\n <\/p>\n
\n But residents of Cartwright Street could soon be looking out of their windows to the balconies of Chinese embassy staff, if plans<\/a> to build a new \u201csuper-embassy\u201d in the area go ahead.\n <\/p>\n \n China is pushing forward with designs for <\/strong>its new <\/strong>diplomatic outpost at Royal Mint Court, a large plot in the heart of London, near Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. The imposing building, which currently lies empty, was once home to the facility that manufactured Britain\u2019s coinage.\n <\/p>\n \n If the proposal goes ahead, China will invest several hundreds of million dollars into the building\u2019s transformation, remaking it as the largest embassy in Europe. China bought the historic parcel of land in 2018, for around $312 million.\n <\/p>\n \n The plans have raised espionage fears, rattled locals in the area nervous <\/strong>for their personal security, and come at a time when bounties have been issued by Beijing for Hong Kongers in the UK. The UK has been a popular destination for many migrating from <\/strong>the former British colony, now a semi-autonomous Chinese city, where Beijing has cracked down hard on dissent over the past five years.\n <\/p>\n \n Barry, an insurance broker <\/strong>who did not provide CNN with a surname <\/strong>and works in the Royal Mint Court <\/strong>area, compared the Chinese takeover of the site to the UK government selling off the crown jewels.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe building is such a UK monument\u2026 it was the Royal Mint. So to give that to a foreign government, especially the Chinese with everything that\u2019s happening with the Chinese at the moment, is a bit of a joke,\u201d he told CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOur office is just facing it, and we are one unit in a block of maybe 2,000 employees who work there, and I\u2019ve not heard anybody say one good thing about it.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n After much government wrangling, Angela Rayner, the UK\u2019s deputy prime minister and housing secretary, is expected to make a final decision on whether to green light the controversial plans by September 9.\n <\/p>\n \n In a twist last week, Rayner gave China two weeks to explain why parts of the blueprint it provided for the sprawling embassy site have been blacked out.\n <\/p>\n \n The letter, seen by Britain\u2019s PA Media news agency, sets a deadline of August 20 for Beijing to give its reasoning for the redacted information.\n <\/p>\n \n CNN has <\/strong>reached out to China\u2019s embassy in London for comment.\n <\/p>\n \n Beijing\u2019s previous application for the embassy was initially rejected<\/a> by the local Tower Hamlets council in 2022 on security grounds. Beijing resubmitted the application last year <\/strong>just weeks after Labour returned to power in the UK, in the hopes that the new government led by Keir Starmer would be more receptive to the request.\n <\/p>\n \n The empty Royal Mint Court had been due for redevelopment <\/strong>into a complex with shops, offices and a leisure center before it was bought by China. Since then, some 100 homes in the area have been classified as being on Chinese–<\/strong>owned land.\n <\/p>\n \n If the embassy plans go ahead, these properties will remain on Chinese land, although they will not fall under the embassy\u2019s territory.\n <\/p>\n \n Locals in an apartment block on western Cartwright Street could also <\/strong>find themselves residing adjacent to the embassy staff\u2019s living quarters. Balconies to be purposely built for diplomatic staff would be visible from the block\u2019s rear windows, CNN understands.\n <\/p>\n \n The Royal Mint Court Residents\u2019 Association, which represents around 300 people living in nearby <\/strong>buildings and has engaged in a years-long battle against the plan, say they are fearful of how China could exercise its powers as landlord once the embassy is built next door.\n <\/p>\n \n The association\u2019s treasurer, Mark Nygate, 64, lives on the estate just meters from the site. The parking lot of the block is separated from the proposed embassy site by a simple wooden fence, in what Nygate refers to as a \u201csoft border.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Speaking to CNN, Nygate raised concerns their Chinese landlords could carry out random searches of the properties, or residents could face accusations of spying. He explained, \u201cI like to take photos. I\u2019ve got an allotment, and I take photos of that, but the allotment actually runs along the border.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Nygate continued, \u201cSo quite easily you could be taking a photo of something and they\u2019re going to think you\u2019re spying.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cBecause they own our land, they are our landlords and therefore they have certain rights to get in (the properties). If they find something they\u2019re not happy with, you can be damn sure they\u2019re going to come and check us out.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n London\u2019s Metropolitan Police has also voiced concern over any mass demonstrations at the embassy, warning that they could impede traffic and spill over into the roads, impacting tourist areas.\n <\/p>\n \n Meanwhile, protesters and rights groups fear that the new embassy building could facilitate espionage and Beijing\u2019s \u201clong-arm\u201d law enforcement, putting opponents of the Chinese government in the UK at risk.\n <\/p>\n \n One resident who lives near the embassy site told CNN the plans should not be allowed to go ahead. \u201cIt\u2019s too close to Tower Bridge,\u201d said <\/strong>the man, who declined to give his name. He also cited concerns over disappearances in Hong Kong.\n <\/p>\n \n China has previously been accused of using its outposts, in effect, as overseas police stations to monitor Chinese citizens<\/a> abroad and coerce them to return home.\n <\/p>\n \n One such incident occurred in the UK in October 2022, when a Hong Kong pro-democracy protester was dragged into the grounds of a Chinese consulate in Manchester and beaten, in events captured on camera.\n <\/p>\n![\"Protesters](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-03-15t151713z-537247371-rc2rddab7cm5-rtrmadp-3-britain-china-embassy-protests.jpg\")
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