The UK government promised to assess any security concerns related to the construction of a Chinese embassy near the City of London, an issue that could potentially complicate trade talks with the United States.
These are “the issues we talk about as two countries all the time”, Kyle said. “But just to reassure people, we deal with embassies and these sorts of infrastructure issues all the time,” he said.
“We’re in the Five Eyes agreement, America and Britain share intelligence. If people raise security issues even though it relates to planning, then I’m sure we will have a fulsome response for them.
“But look, the key thing is these are issues which are quite routinised in the way that we deal with the security of our country.”
A senior US official had told the Sunday Times: “The United States is deeply concerned about providing China with potential access to the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.”
The matter is believed to have been discussed during US-UK trade talks, with diplomats saying the Trump administration would have reservations about intelligence sharing with the UK if the building went ahead.
The US imposed a July 9 deadline for the UK demands about the ownership of a steel plant currently held by a Chinese company.
“I agree with the United States. We think it is a security risk,” he said.
“In government the Conservatives were very clear, we should not be allowing the Chinese to build this super-embassy,” he said.
“We’ve seen the Chinese government cracking down on dissidents, running secret police stations in the UK, even putting bounties on the heads of dissidents, some of whom I’ve met. We should not be giving permission to this,” he added.
More than a thousand demonstrators gathered earlier this year for a rally against the proposed Chinese embassy because of concerns about its proximity to the Canary Wharf financial area and the City of London.
The redevelopment plans were “called in” last year, which means the government will make the final decision after a report from the Planning Inspectorate.
The plan was initially refused by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.