LONDON, Jan 21 : An association of residents living on the China-owned Royal Mint Court site near the Tower of London is set to legally challenge a proposed Chinese super embassy after surpassing its crowdfunding target within hours of the UK government’s greenlight for the controversial project.
The Royal Mint Court Residents Association has raised over 176,000 pounds in donations, substantially more than their 145,000-pound target and the bulk being raised within hours of the ministerial nod for the mega embassy on Tuesday.
The judicial review application will be based on concerns that the residents fear being ousted from their homes by the Chinese government, besides security, safety and privacy concerns.
“We are humbled that so many of those persecuted by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), together with ordinary Brits up and down the country, have placed their faith in us, and stood by residents,” Mark Nygate, treasurer of the residents’ association, said in a statement.
“We won’t waste a single penny in ensuring that this embassy plan fails,” he said.
The group is made up of around 100 families, who say their homes were sold in a “secretive” deal to China in 2018. It has previously fundraised to make representations with the local Tower Hamlets Council planning process.
The judicial review process will argue that the residents were taken out of the planning process when the decision was “called in” by the government weeks after the Labour Party won the general election in July 2024, a plan previously rejected by the council.
“The blistering speed with which this crowdfunder has reached its target is a clear indication of the sheer unpopularity of this mega embassy. It remains to be seen if the world’s second superpower is a match for UK planning law,” said Luke de Pulford of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC).
The campaigners, backed by Opposition Conservatives who have labelled the super embassy as a China “spy hub”, are hopeful that the legal challenge will overturn the planning permission.
The approval for the proposed construction at the 20,000-square-metre site of the former Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London had been “called in” for a ministerial review as a matter of national significance. The Labour government’s own MPs were among those voicing their opposition, given the site’s proximity to the City of London financial district and characterising China as a “hostile state”.
However, UK Housing and Communities Secretary Steve Reed formally approved the plans this week, claiming “all material considerations were taken into account when making this decision”.
China bought the historic site in 2018 for 225 million pounds and submitted plans to the local Tower Hamlets Council to turn the site into a much larger London embassy than its current location at Portland Place, near Baker Street.
The UK government issued a statement to say that the planning decision was taken “independently” following a process that began eight years ago, when the then Tory government provided formal diplomatic consent for the site.
“Intelligence agencies have been involved throughout the process, and an extensive range of measures have been developed to manage any risks. Following extensive negotiations in recent months, the Chinese government has agreed to consolidate its seven current sites in London into one site, bringing clear security advantages,” a government spokesperson said.
The approval was widely expected ahead of an expected visit later this month to Beijing by Keir Starmer, the first China tour by a British Prime Minister in eight years. (PTI )
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