The latest disclosure reveals that the Chinese Communist Party plans to construct a new embassy in central London with underground space containing up to 208 secret rooms, at least one of which is adjacent to critical British financial and internet communication arteries, sparking significant concerns over national security and economic security.
According to the report by The Telegraph on Monday, based on its exclusive access to unredacted planning drawings, the new Chinese embassy planned to be built on the former site of the Royal Mint will have a total area of about 22,000 square meters, making it the largest diplomatic institution of the Chinese Communist Party in Europe.
Previously, citing “security considerations,” the Chinese authorities heavily redacted the planning documents submitted for local government review; then British Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner requested further explanation from the Chinese side and temporarily delayed the related approval processes.
Unredacted drawings show that the embassy’s underground plans include a vast compound facility network, with a hidden underground room located next to Mansell Street, only about a meter away from high-speed fiber optic cables laid under the sidewalk. These cables carry a large volume of financial transaction data between London’s financial district and Canary Wharf, simultaneously serving millions of users for email and instant messaging.
The cable owners include BT Openreach under British Telecom, Colt Technologies, and the American telecom giant Verizon Business.
These lines connect multiple data centers in London’s dockyard area, forming the core hub of the London Internet Exchange (LINX), extending across the Atlantic through undersea cables to the United States. The data they carry encompasses bank clearings, transaction instructions, emails, and instant messaging crucial for the daily operation of the UK’s financial system.
The documents further indicate that the underground secret chamber is equipped with at least two sets of hot air extraction systems, suggesting the installation of heat-generating equipment, such as high-performance computers, inside.
The plans also reveal that the Chinese intend to demolish and rebuild one side of the exterior wall facing Mansell Street of the secret chamber, with the construction site directly adjacent to the fiber optic cables. This implies that during construction and subsequent use, relevant personnel will be in close proximity to the core communication infrastructure of the United Kingdom.
Alan Woodward, a security expert at the University of Surrey, pointed out that diverting, installing splitters, or even using bent fiber optic cables to leak optical signals are well-known and feasible eavesdropping techniques; demolishing and rebuilding the underground walls itself sends a “dangerous signal.”
He bluntly stated that economic intelligence has long been a crucial task for intelligence agencies around the world, and under the right technical capabilities and motivations, such geographical conditions hold “tremendous appeal.”
In addition to the secret chamber, previously redacted contents also include backup generator rooms, high-voltage power facilities, communication pipelines, newly constructed elevator shafts, as well as underground toilets and showers. Analysts suggest that the comprehensive energy and living support facilities indicate that personnel could engage in long-term activities underground.
Furthermore, the drawings illustrate that the base has underground pathways connecting different building zones and leading to a large underground parking facility, demonstrating the structural interconnectedness of various underground spaces.
Although there is currently no clear evidence of detention facilities within the embassy, considering its proximity to the Wapping Telephone Exchange and numerous data centers carrying financial and communication traffic, the potential risks it poses to sensitive data security continues to raise high concerns in security and political circles.
The news comes at a time when British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to visit China later this month and meet with the Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. Reports suggest that the Starmer government is leaning towards approving the embassy’s plans before the China visit, further stirring up opposition.
Alicia Kearns, the Conservative shadow minister responsible for national security affairs, cautioned that if the UK government approves the project, it would be equivalent to providing the Chinese Communist Party with an “economic warfare frontline base” in the heart of the nation’s critical infrastructure. She questioned how a Labour government could turn a blind eye to such evident risks.
A UK government spokesperson responded by stating that national security always remains the top concern, security experts have been involved throughout the assessment, and all relevant risks have been “identified and addressed,” with the final planning decision to be made independently by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities, and Local Government.
The project has been a subject of controversy since the Conservative Party’s term. Dominic Cummings, chief adviser to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, revealed that the UK’s MI5 and MI6 had previously warned of Chinese attempts to create a “spy center” underground in the embassy.
Now, with the unedited documents coming to light, the rekindling of related concerns is raising the temperature once more, posing a more severe political test for UK-China relations and Britain’s own critical information security.