A Chinese embassy construction project in London has triggered serious national security concerns after unredacted blueprints revealed a concealed underground room built feet from critical U.K. communication cables. The plans, released Monday by The Telegraph, show the facility positioned near fiber-optic lines that handle financial transactions and internet traffic for millions of users.
The embassy is planned for the former Royal Mint site and would become the largest Chinese diplomatic compound in Europe. Construction documents show a basement wall slated for demolition and reconstruction just over three feet from sensitive infrastructure. Security specialists warned that the proximity raises the risk of cable-tapping, a technique used to intercept data by accessing light signals within fiber-optic lines.
Professor Alan Woodward of the University of Surrey described the layout as a warning sign. “If I were in their shoes, having those cables on my doorstep would be an enormous temptation,” he said, according to The Telegraph. Blueprints also show at least two hot-air extraction systems, suggesting the space could support high-powered computing equipment.
Beyond the single chamber, plans reveal 208 concealed rooms beneath the site. The underground network includes backup generators, communications cabling, sprinkler systems, and showers, indicating the capacity for long-term underground operations. Analysts believe the scale supports fears that the Chinese embassy could function as an intelligence hub.
The British government said security experts have reviewed the plans. A spokesman stated that “national security is our first duty.” Approval is expected before Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits President Xi Jinping.
Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns warned the move risks economic security. “Giving China the go-ahead for its embassy site would be to gift them a launchpad for economic warfare at the very heart of the central nervous system of our critical financial national infrastructure,” she said.
