Moolenaar: UK Mega-Embassy Decision “Defies Common Sense"

Today, the United Kingdom approved China’s plan to build a mega-embassy in London’s financial district. The proposed plan calls for the construction of the largest Chinese embassy in Europe on the site of the Royal Mint Court in London.

“The UK’s decision defies common sense. It is effectively rewarding China for spying on Parliament, interfering in the UK’s elections, and fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine. China is also suspected of cutting undersea cables, so letting it build on the land above critical infrastructure is a serious security risk. The only safeguard against the mega-embassy is to prohibit its construction,” said Moolenaar.

Moolenaar has twice asked the UK to deny approval of the embassy, writing in February and November of this year. In November, Moolenaar and House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast wrote to U.K. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and warned that the mega-embassy would be a danger because of “its proximity to critical communication cables serving the City of London’s financial district.”

In February, Moolenaar and Congressman Chris Smith, the Chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, wrote to Lord (Peter) Mandelson, the former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the United States and said “giving the Chinese Communist government such a prominent diplomatic foothold in the UK will only embolden its efforts to intimidate and harass UK citizens and dissidents and experts across Europe who oppose or criticize its policies.”