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The Chinese government has “no desire or intention” to change its proposed new London embassy design to comply with a condition set out by the UK Foreign Office and Home Office, a public inquiry was told on Tuesday.
Last month, UK foreign secretary David Lammy and home secretary Yvette Cooper wrote to the Planning Inspectorate inquiry throwing their support behind the application for Beijing to build its largest diplomatic complex in Europe at a site near the Tower of London.
One condition of their support was for the Chinese government not to permit “unregulated public access” to Cistercian ruins that sit within the Royal Mint Court site, because the diplomatic status of the entire complex could delay emergency responders such as an ambulance crew from entering this area, as they would need permission.
The Cabinet ministers recommended a hard perimeter, with “occasional controlled public access” negotiated between the Chinese embassy and relevant UK authorities.
On Tuesday the Chinese Embassy’s UK lawyer Christopher Katkowski KC, told the inquiry that the letter had “raised an issue about public access” but said: “The applicant has no desire or intention to change the scheme in the way in which it has been suggested.”
The project has received objections from local residents, Tower Hamlets council, and campaigners concerned about China, and its initial planning application was rejected by the local authority.
But housing secretary Angela Rayner has “called in” the application, which was resubmitted last summer, and will make the final decision following a recommendation from Claire Searson, the planning inspector.
In their submission to the inquiry last month, Lammy and Cooper stressed the “importance of countries having functioning diplomatic premises in each other’s capitals”. The UK is currently seeking permission from the Chinese authorities to rebuild its own embassy in Beijing.
The pair also revealed in their letter that the Metropolitan police had “withdrawn their objection” to the proposed site, a reversal of the position the police force had set out weeks earlier.
Katkowski told the inquiry on Tuesday that the Chinese embassy was “extremely keen to maintain the very best of relations” with the UK foreign office, adding that the embassy proposed security provisions within the relevant building instead of the requested hard perimeter.
“It’s a different way of meeting the same objective,” Katkowski claimed, but stressed: “We do not propose to erect a boundary wall, fence, etc, and have security . . . in effect, out in the street. We do not intend to do that at all.”
During the afternoon session Katkowski rebuffed claims of “backdoor deals” being done between the Chinese embassy and those who had previously voiced opposition to the site, including the Met Police.
He said that “if a backroom deal had been done, we wouldn’t be sitting here”, in response to the representative of a local community group, and insisted that there was “no evidence” for claims “of this nature”.
A UK government spokesperson said: “National security is the first duty of government. It has been our core priority throughout this process.
“That is why the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Home Office submitted written representations to reflect these considerations and to note the importance of all states having functioning diplomatic premises in each other’s capitals.”
A Met spokesperson said this month that the force’s initial objection related to the “potential impact of protests on local roads”, adding: “The borough council has since reintroduced an assessment of the surrounding area’s ability to accommodate protests — this was not available at the point our objection was made.”
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government is stepping up diplomatic engagement with China, a move that has seen both Lammy and chancellor Rachel Reeves visit the mainland in recent months.
