«A nest of spies»: the Chinese megaproject in Europe through which the cables of one of the most important financial centers on the planet pass

China plans to lift a megaembajada in the United Kingdom, and the work has caught the attention of intelligence services. Not only because it would be Beijing’s biggest embassy in Europe, but also, because as Roger Boyes, a diplomatic correspondent for ‘The Times’ emphasizes, this place will become “a large nest of spies” and in A point of continuous attacks. “It is as if the persistent cyber intrusions of the last decades had received a concrete public form and designed with good taste in the form of a building, nothing less,” he said in statements to the press.

This project that has a larger size than they already have in Washington has already been subject to geopolitical disputes at the highest levels of the government, according to the ‘Financial Times’. We talk about a complex that It would be located at the site of the old real currency houseand is projected to occupy 65,000 square meters.

A location overlooking the Tower of London, which will have cameras everywhere and high walls to have a strength with cutting -edge technology and without blind points. The government has faced accusations of having made its position more flexible despite the objections of its citizenship and the warnings of experts. Not surprisingly, the Parliamentary Minister of State of the Office of Foreign Affairs, Jenny Chapman, admitted to Parliament that it was “very important that Beijing meets all the conditions that could be imposed.” But he added that while “a very large embassy would be”, he also said that “China is a considerably large country with considerable interests.”

A highly sensitive area with five eyes

Beijing acquired the site in 2018 and included the ruins of a 14th -century Cistercian abbey and 100 apartments with four residential blocks. Therefore, it is not surprising that the idea has been fully encountered with The opposition of the neighbors who live in that field and Initially he found police rejection because they feared that the area would become a focus of protests or terrorist attacks. Something that also confirmed a security report by Crilly Consulting, which was commissioned by residents who have been harmed by the project.

The plan of this embassy is located in a district in 40% of the residents of these blocks are Muslims, the highest proportion of any British district. AND The repression of the Uigures in the Asian countrywhich are the Muslim minority that lives in China, are a reason for debate for the population of this area.

Another worrying aspect for experts is that Below this place, highly sensitive communications cables pass that support the functioning of the City of London, which is one of the most important financial centers on the planet and base of the British economy. It would be among the financial centers of the City and Canary Wharf, and about three important data centers.

With this panorama, Boyes wonders ironically if this work is an indication of the new importance of Great Britain for Beijing’s plans. «Rather, the United Kingdom as part of the five -eyed information exchange club (in English Five Eyes, an intelligence alliance of 5 countries: Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States), and an enthusiastic of the containment of the growing power of China, we have become the object of deep suspicions. The golden era of Chinese-British friendship has crumbled. The main mission of the embassy will be spying on», Sentence.

And he is not the only one to think about it. Your conclusions are in the line of former president of the Parliament Intelligence and Security Committeewhich he wrote to the planning inspection. «Beijing has demonstrated its willingness to try to compromise communications and other critical infrastructures and you should not allow easy access to grant permission to develop this location, “he said.

David against the Asian dragon

«They have you guarded you », He tells newspapers such as ‘The Times’ Mark Nygate, treasurer of the Association of Residents of the Court of the Royal House of La Moneda. His home beautiful with what will be the Chinese overflow. Only a fence and some pots separate it from the building that will house Chinese officials. And Nygate complains that the speed of his wifi has been reduced and his phone has connection problems. “They have ignored all our concerns. We are definitely pawns in a broader geopolitical game, ”Nygate told ‘Financial Times’.

All this also joins the concern that the patrimonial sites surrounding the project, including the London Tower, could suffer potential damage. “I don’t think I have felt so angry at anything before,” said a retiree who resides in the area and asked to keep his anonymity ‘The Times’. While other neighbors point out that what they intend is to throw them out of their homes.

ANDNtre other things are worried about the precedent of 2020when the Chinese consulate that was in Belfast during its construction argued that diplomatic immunity meant that the court had no jurisdiction on the ground, and that statement was accepted by the English.

Complaint of secret agreements

Returning to London, the original project proposal had been rejected twice by the Tower Hamlets City Council which is the local authority, claiming a security issue. At that time, the police and the chief inspector of the Metropolitan Police, David Hodges, said that any disturbance as a manifestation would have a “serious and significant effect not only for the local area, but also for all London.”

But in recent months, The British press has revealed that several ministers seem to have aligned behind China’s last planning request and the government established that it fell under its power to make the final decision. The police also set aside their objections, according to ‘Financial Times’ after examining a technical document three years ago and paid by China.

In addition, these changes have been happening after the meeting of the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, regardless of the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, in November. In a statement out of the microphone captured by journalists, he told the Chinese leader: “You mentioned the Chinese embassy building in London when we talked on the phone.” Starmer assured the Chinese president: «We have already taken measures and have submitted the application. Now we have to follow the legal process and the schedule ».

“It’s something extraordinary, unprecedented and absolutely desperate,” said conservative Kevin Hollinrake. It accuses the government of yielding to Chinese pressure and pressing the police to change its position.

Another detail about this project is that The sale of the land was negotiated by one of Boris’s closest collaboratorsSir Edward Lister. Now, the final decision is to be defined, while lcontinuous concern among residentsand accusations of diplomatic pressures continue. And it is that the history of Chinese diplomacy stands out in knowing how to move intelligently, while resonating the famous phrase of the American writer, Dale Carnegie: “Diplomacy is the art of getting others to do with pleasure what you want you to do.”