Tim Cheung (@TimCheung)

#Cyber #experts for the #UK #Government have privately sounded the #alarm about a new #Chinese 'super-#embassy' proposed for central #London, it has been revealed. Plans for #Beijing’s sprawling #complex at the former #RoyalMint site near the Tower of London have been locked in a planning battle for years and have proved to be controversial. The #Conservative Party has managed to uncover concerns raised by Innovate UK, the Government’s experts on cyber-physical #infrastructure. The #Tories said it indicated fears that the Chinese embassy could 'wiretap' the City of London if the project is given the green light. The warning was contained in an exchange, revealed under transparency laws, from October 2024, which were sent to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A senior figure from Innovate UK, whose name is redacted in the published correspondence, sent an email urging the department to intervene in the decision over whether to approve the building of the embassy. Part of the email about the embassy proposal read: It contains apartments for 200 diplomatic staff together with extensive subsurface facilities which border a secure BT telephone exchange. As experienced during the previous application, the local authority is woefully unprepared to handle an application of this nature, particularly from a national and protective security perspective. The Embassy Plan conflicts with the Integrated Review of Defence and Foreign Policy 2021, Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021, Electronic Communications (Security) Measures Regulations 2022'. Two years earlier, the same person warned the new embassy 'could have significant effects beyond their immediate locality' and could 'give rise to substantial cross-boundary or national controversy'. The reference to the #BT telephone exchange is especially telling. Many of the #fibreoptic 3cables that serve the City of London – the UK’s #financialcentre – run through the exchange. It has raised concerns that in theory the embassy, which, according to published plans, would include underground rooms, could get access to City #communication lines...Kevin Hollinrake, the shadow communities secretary, said: 'The Labour Government are playing fast and loose with Britain’s national security. In their desperate attempt to woo the Chinese government, they are opening up the City of London to Chinese #hackers and #spies. Labour have been caught red-handed trying to cover up the alarm sounded by the Government’s own cyber-experts. The Government should follow the #example of #Ireland and #Australia in blocking embassy development which puts our country at risk'. https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1164556572380994&set=ecnf.100064799856517 The Conservative Party press release said concerns had been raised about 'City #wiretapping'. A Tory source expanded on the fears: 'It would allow the Chinese to #hack #telecoms cables into the City of London. They could use it for economic #espionage'.”