A UK High Court on Friday threw out a challenge against UK authorities’ decision to permit a new Chinese super embassy in central London.
The challenge was brought by a neighborhood group called the Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association (RMCRA), which represents families and businesses in roughly 100 properties around the planned embassy site.
What was the court case about?
The RMCRA argued the presence of the embassy could increase the risk of terrorist attacks, lead to the targeting of dissidents and be used to enforce “draconian” Chinese laws in the UK.
The association also claimed that the embassy could pose a fire risk, arguing that Chinese authorities might ignore safety obligations that would be difficult to enforce because of diplomatic immunity on the embassy site.
On that basis, the group argued the development should not have been approved by the UK government as well as the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
Yet in its ruling on Friday, the High Court said the “RMCRA did not produce reasonable and convincing evidence of the likelihood that a violation of human rights affecting them personally would occur.”
In a move that was widely seen as a goodwill gesture toward Beijing, the embassy received approval from the UK government shortly before then-Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited China in January this year.
What makes a ‘super embassy’?
If completed, the new Chinese embassy would be the largest embassy in the UK.
Beijing plans to build the embassy on the site of the former Royal Mint, next to the Tower of London. The site covers around 20,000 square meters (235,000 square feet).
Beijing purchased the property in 2018 for a reported $327 million (€283.9 million), with the intent of relocating its embassy there from its current premises in Portland Place.
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RMCRA vows to continue fight
In response to the verdict, the RMCRA said it would seek permission to appeal, hoping to take the case to the UK Supreme Court.
“Beijing thinks this judgment is the final word. It isn’t. The appeal is already in the works,” Luke Pollard, head of the RMCRA, said in a statement.
Opposition to the project extends far beyond local residents.
Activists from Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement living in exile have also been skeptical of the project, telling DW they fear the embassy could help Beijing suppress dissidents abroad.
The UK is home to the world’s largest Hong Kong diaspora, with an estimated 285,000 people of Hong Kong origin living in the country.
Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah
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