Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper shrugs off safety fears over Chinese mega-embassy in London by saying ‘all nations have embassies’
The Foreign Secretary has indicated that she is not opposed to China‘s proposed ‘mega-embassy’ in London despite widespread fears it will be a base for espionage and repression.
Yvette Cooper said that ‘all countries have embassies’, pointing out that Britain has a diplomatic mission in Beijing.
She also revealed that she is planning her own visit to the country, with Sir Keir Starmer expected to make his first trip to meet President Xi Jinping later this month.
Her comments came with just days to go before the latest deadline for ministers to decide whether or not to let China build the biggest embassy in Europe opposite the Tower of London.
Even some Labour MPs have spoken out against the Government’s expected approval of the planning application while the White House is said to be ‘deeply concerned’ about the security risks, with fresh concerns emerging this week over blueprints for a secret basement close to sensitive data cables.
Speaking to the news website Politico ahead of a visit to the Arctic this week, Ms Cooper insisted that Britain takes the security issues posed by China ‘immensely seriously’.
‘That involves transnational repression, it involves the espionage threats and challenges that we face,’ she said.
‘There are also some wider economic security issues around, for example, the control of critical minerals around the world, and some of those issues.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper observing British and Norwegian soldiers taking part in a training exercise in northern Norway
A drone picture shows the location of the proposed Chinese ‘mega-embassy’ in London
‘So we’re very conscious of the broad range of China threats that are posed alongside what we also know is China’s role as being our third-largest trading partner, and so the complexity of the relationship with China and the work that needs to done.’
She declined to say whether she had assured her counterparts in the US about the embassy plan but said: ‘The Home Office, the Foreign Office, also the security agencies take all of those security issues very seriously, and we also brief our allies on security issues as well.’
And she went on: ‘All countries have embassies. We have embassies all around the world, including in Beijing.’
But she admitted: ‘Of course, security is an important part of the considerations around all embassies.
‘So we need to have those diplomatic relationships, those communications. We also have to make sure that security is taken very seriously.’
