Senator Banks Urges U.K. to Halt Proposed Chinese Diplomatic Complex in London Over National Security Risks

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Senator Jim Banks (R-Ind.) sent a letter to British Chargé d'Affaires James Roscoe raising serious concerns about the Chinese government's planned "super-embassy" in London and the national security risks it poses to both the United States and the United Kingdom.

Read the full letter here or see full text below.

Dear Chargé d'Affaires Roscoe:

I write to express grave concerns with the Chinese government's planned "super-embassy" at the Royal Mint Court in London. The 5.5-acre complex would be the largest Chinese diplomatic outpost in Europe and a hub for Chinese intelligence collection, transnational repression, and malign influence. As a key Five Eyes ally, the U.K. has a responsibility to safeguard its sovereignty and critical infrastructure from foreign adversary penetration. Should the planned Royal Mint Court site move forward, I am deeply concerned about the potential consequences for the special relationship.

As has been widely reported, the Royal Mint Court site is located in close proximity to sensitive fiber-optic cables that underpin London's internet and financial system. New details uncovered just this week by The Daily Telegraph indicate that underground construction at the Royal Mint Court could take place less than two meters away from these critical cables, effectively inviting the Chinese government to make itself at home surveilling U.K. networks. Given that these cables not only connect to the London Internet Exchange, but ultimately back to the United States, China's ability to tap into or monitor information flows carried by these cables is of critical interest to the alliance.

Equally as concerning is the scale of the proposed Chinese presence at the Royal Mint Court site. With more than 200 residences, room for hundreds of embassy staff, and a "cultural exchange" building, this location could supersize China's diplomatic presence in the U.K. This expanded presence would not be used for benign purposes. The Chinese Communist Party has proven through a long pattern of behavior that it will take advantage of a larger footprint to expand malign influence activities, recruit sources, surveil dissidents, and conduct transnational repression on U.K. soil.

The Chinese Communist Party's targeting of U.K. residents in connection to its violation of the Sino-British Joint Declaration is illustrative. As CCP-controlled Hong Kong authorities issued arrest warrants and bounties worth up to one million Hong Kong dollars against U.K. residents, agents of the Chinese government have grown increasingly brazen in their extraterritorial application of CCP repression. In 2024, the U.K. charged three individuals under its National Security Act with assisting Hong Kong authorities and forcibly entering a home in Britain. One of the individuals charged, Chung Biu Yuen, worked for the Hong Kong government at its Economic and Trade Office in the U.K. If the expansive Royal Mint Court location is approved,

and with it comes an influx of employees at the Chinese Embassy, we can only expect more coercion of the more than 140,000 Hong Kongers who have trusted in the supposed safety of the United Kingdom since 2021.

While it is understandable that both the United Kingdom and China each seek to move their respective diplomatic missions into new facilities in the coming years, the location and scale of the Royal Mint Court site pose an acute threat to the United Kingdom and its Five Eyes allies. Moreover, rewarding the CCP with an embassy of this scale and prestige after its consistent and pervasive interference in U.K. affairs would only serve to further embolden CCP aggression in the U.K. and beyond. I urge His Majesty's Government to reject the Royal Mint Court site and instead find an alternative, less threatening location for the PRC mission.

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