Chloe Lo: The Government are giving China a dangerous and unfair advantage in the heart of London

Chloe Lo is a Hong Konger and a former Bloomberg reporter who covered pivotal subjects, including prominent court proceedings, with a particular emphasis on cases tied to the Hong Kong unrest and the national security law. 

China looks on course to get what it wants, a huge embassy in the heart of London.

What does this mean for Hong Kongers who were forced to leave their whole lives behind, fled to a foreign land, and rebuilt their lives from scratch all over again, trusting the country they fled to value democracy, human rights, and freedom – now all of a sudden, this country opened its arms to welcome the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), supporting them in building Europe’s biggest embassy in the heart of the city?

It feels like an utter betrayal. Throw us all under the bus in exchange for a peanut concession from the CCP – if you are lucky!

It is clear by now that the CCP has no interest in honouring any agreement with anyone – they only exercise the terms when it’s in their favour.

It was proved in the Sino-British Joint Declaration. And if the terms are not in their favour, they’ll move the goalpost and reinterpret the law to make it fit their purpose. It was again proved in Hong Kong with the imposition of the national security law, the reinterpretation of the Basic Law many times, the change of law to stop Jimmy Lai from hiring a foreign barrister, Tim Owen, UK King Counsel who is acclaimed in national security legal cases, and to withholding Hong Kongers lifelong hard-earned pensions with no legal grounds but purely because the CCP is the only country in the world that now decided not to recognise the British National Overseas Passport.

How much more evidence do the Western democratic countries need to see to stop kowtowing to this totalitarian regime?

Back home, in the UK, this government’s view of China is beyond imagination. To use the word ‘ignorance’ is an understatement. The Chancellor reportedly allowed the questionable Chinese fast-fashion company Shein to be listed on the London Exchange, despite its management being unable to answer our Parliament’s question on whether their supply chain is related to forced labour. Then, the Prime Minister openly admitted that because Xi Jinping questioned the process surrounding Europe’s biggest embassy, now Sir Keir Starmer will look into it, despite the last government stopping the plan.

This site is at the Royal Mint Court, right across from the Tower of London, and at the northern end of the Tower Bridge. One of our most beautiful landmarks.

During the planning inquiry, the CCP revealed tunnels and accommodations for over 200 people in the basement will be built into this mega embassy. What kind of embassy staff would like to live in the basement?

It fits all the descriptions of a detention facility, doesn’t it?

Last year, on Christmas Eve, the Hong Kong government issued more bounties on six activists’ heads. Two of them were in the threat letters sent from Hong Kong to the residents near the embassy, encouraging them to “take her/him to the Chinese embassy” and to receive their £100,000 reward. How outrageous can this get?

The Metropolitan Police issued an objection in 2022 to the planning of this CCP’s mega embassy based on security and safety concerns for local residents and traffic. Mysteriously, the objection was withdrawn not long after this government took office.

What does it mean for Hong Kongers in London?

It means we can no longer get anywhere near the city of London, because once China, this barbaric country, has imported all their spies to fill up Europe’s biggest embassy, the land will become a Chinese jurisdiction, they could arbitrarily nick any activist onto “their land” and there is nothing the UK government can do about it within diplomatic law. It nearly happened in the Chinese consulate in Manchester, which will only be ten times worse now.

What does this mean for Britain? It means there would be a giant spy hub on top of vital communication cables in the heart of London; it means that this government is determined to let the CCP co-host this country; and it also means that sooner or later, the UK will become a Chinese colony!

If you don’t want any of these to happen, if you don’t want a Chinese flag flying behind our beautiful landmarks whenever a picture is taken, if you value democracy, freedom, and human rights and believe that these are still the core values of this country – come join us on March 15th, at 3pm, to say NO to Europe’s biggest Chinese embassy.