Will Beijing block Britain’s embassy?

It’s not been the best few years for Sino-British relations, what with Huawei, Hong Kong and the whole Covid thing. So it was no surprise when, last month, Tower Hamlets council voted to block China’s new ‘super-embassy,’ with councillors citing security fears and the concerns of local residents. The borough of Tower Hamlets is more than 38 per cent Muslim: many constituents were outraged by the ongoing atrocities by the Chinese Communist Party against Uyghur Muslims.

The local authority’s decision has been greeted with delight by many Sinosceptics – but not by some in the Foreign Office. Mr S understands that mandarins there are privately fearful about what happens if the proposed Tower Hamlets site is blocked because London is currently trying to get an upgrade to Britain’s own embassy in Beijing through the local planning processes there. In colourful language, one Whitehall source said the department was ‘shitting themselves’ about the project, which was first announced by Philip Hammond in January 2016.