Housing the Royal Mint — the official maker of British coins — for nearly two centuries, it was earlier home to a 1348-built Cistercian abbey but is currently derelict.
Beijing bought the site for a reported $327 million in 2018.
It comprises several “listed buildings” of historical note, and before the government’s intervention, any changes had required permission from the local authority, Tower Hamlets Council.
In 2022 its councillors unanimously rejected China’s plans, which include designs by the renowned David Chipperfield Architects firm. In July, Beijing resubmitted the proposals almost entirely unchanged.
Conservative councillor Peter Golds has been a persistent opponent.
“Can you imagine the French or the Italians permitting the most famous World Heritage site in their country to have a gigantic embassy next to it? And not just any embassy!” he told AFP.
“It’s a prestige site… it’d be a bit like us going to the Forbidden City,” he added, referring to Beijing’s imperial palace complex. “What an insult!”
‘Overpowering’
The site adjoins a housing complex, and residents are most concerned about security implications.
“A small explosion from a car or a van would cause devastation,” Dave Lake, who leads a residents’ association fighting the plans, told AFP, voicing concerns that the embassy could become a focus of anti-China protests.
Residents recently began fundraising to pay for the legal representation now needed to maintain what Lake considers a David-versus-Goliath battle.
“It’s overpowering — it’s almost as if they’re stamping on you,” he said.
There are reports Beijing intends to link the issue with British plans to redevelop its embassy and ambassador’s residence there.
A Chinese embassy statement said “host countries have the international obligation to support and facilitate the building of the premises of diplomatic missions”.
It added approval would help promote “friendship between the Chinese and British people and the development of bilateral relations”.
James Jennion, associate fellow at the British Foreign Policy Group, said it was “clearly a priority” for China, noting embassies are “status symbols”.
He added the government “calling in” the application “made this more of a “bilateral issue” as well as likely creating future “domestic headaches”.
“This will make it tougher to assess based on practical factors, and will certainly be a defining feature of UK-China relations until a decision is made.”
© 2024 AFP
