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US lawmakers have expressed concern to the UK about China’s plan to build a massive embassy in London as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer prepares to meet President Donald Trump.
Chris Smith, the Republican chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China, and John Moolenaar, the Republican head of House China committee, said they were concerned that the UK was rewarding China in spite of its record on human rights and transnational repression.
“Gifting the Chinese Communist government with the largest embassy in Europe is a counterproductive and unearned reward,” the lawmakers wrote on Wednesday to British ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson.
Smith and Moolenaar said letting China build a huge embassy on the site of the former Royal Mint Court would reward it when thousands of political prisoners, including media mogul and British citizen Jimmy Lai, were detained in Hong Kong.
Lai, who founded the now defunct Apple Daily, has been detained in Hong Kong since 2020. The pro-democracy activist has been accused of foreign collusion and conspiracy to publish seditious material through his media group, charges he denies.
“Conceding the Chinese Communist government such a prominent diplomatic foothold in the UK will only embolden its effort to intimidate and harass UK citizens and dissidents and experts across Europe who oppose or criticise its policies,” they added.
UK and US critics have also raised concerns about letting Beijing build an embassy so close to the City of London because of the location of critical communications infrastructure that could facilitate espionage.
“This is a particular location where wires and pipes run underneath,” said Tom Tugendhat, a Conservative MP and former UK minister of state for security.
Tugendhat, who is also a fellow at the Hudson Institute think-tank in Washington, said allowing Beijing to build a mega embassy at that location sent an inappropriate message given the way China was acting around the world.
“Embassies tell a story, and the story that this embassy is telling is that it will be the largest outpost of the Chinese Communist party in Europe,” Tugendhat said.
Smith and Moolenaar asked Mandelson to relay their concerns about the embassy to Starmer during his visit. It remains unclear whether the Trump administration has expressed a view to the British government on the planned embassy.
“We know that Prime Minister Starmer has expressed concern about Jimmy Lai’s detention and promised to make his release a UK ‘priority’,” they said. “We urge him to use his meeting with President Trump to co-ordinate effects to gain Lai’s unconditional release”.
In October, Trump told the Hugh Hewitt Show that he would secure Lai’s release. “100 per cent . . . He’ll be easy to get out.”
The US congressional push comes as the UK is stepping up diplomatic engagement with China, having accused the previous Tory government of weakening important channels of communication.
UK chancellor Rachel Reeves and foreign secretary David Lammy have visited Beijing in recent months. Starmer is expected to travel there this year. China is viewed by Britain’s Labour government as a key source of further investment to the UK.
A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said: “The local inquiry on the planning application has been completed. The UK side should consider and approve this planning application at an early date.”
The Chinese embassy was committed to “the development of mutually beneficial co-operation between the two countries”, the spokesperson added.