Fury over plans for ‘spy dungeons’ beneath new Chinese embassy in London

Downing Street is under fire over revived plans to build a vast Chinese “super embassy” in London — a proposal previously blocked by the former Conservative government.

Planning documents for the proposed site, located at the historic Royal Mint buildings near the Tower of London, reveal “two suites of anonymous unlabelled basement rooms and a tunnel”, with their intended purpose redacted “for security reasons”.

The Conservatives have accused the government of “appeasement” towards Beijing, warning the so-called “dungeons” could be used for espionage or to intimidate dissidents, according to the Mail on Sunday.

Levelling Up Secretary Kevin Hollinrake has written to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, claiming the government has been caught “red-handed in an attempt to ram this mega-embassy” through the planning system.

He added: “It would be a barbarous irony that a site so close to the medieval Tower of London could become a modern-day dungeon under a Starmer government.”

Mr Hollinrake also criticised the “striking” level of redactions in the embassy’s planning documents, asking: “Why does the use of the basement rooms need to be redacted, given they are not in public sight and there is no public access?”

He warned: “This subterranean zone will undeniably be used for intelligence work by the Chinese Communist Party and its arm, the United Front Work Department. But there is also a chilling prospect that it could be used for the abduction, intimidation or torture of anti-Chinese dissidents living in the United Kingdom.”

The original embassy plans were blocked under the Conservative government following objections from British intelligence agencies and Scotland Yard, who raised concerns about the proximity of sensitive data cables that could be intercepted by Chinese spies.

But the application was resubmitted in January this year, shortly before Chancellor Rachel Reeves visited China. President Xi Jinping is said to have personally lobbied for the embassy’s approval.

The government has yet to comment publicly on the renewed application. Meanwhile, internal divisions persist over whether to officially classify China as a hostile state alongside Iran and Russia.

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