Should Londoners worry about China's plans for 'spy tunnels' under the city? (2025)

Londoner’s have been warned they at risk of threats, intimidation and espionage as China’s ‘super-embassy’ plans are revealed.

Beijing has proposed to turn the former Royal Mint building in Tower Hamlets into Europe’s largest embassy.

But the latest planning documents have revealed ‘two suites of anonymous unlabelled basement rooms and a tunnel’.

Concerningly their actual purpose has been redacted for ‘security reasons’.

Both intelligence services and charities have warned the super-embassy is putting the city – especially students from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan – at risk.

Deputy Prime MinisterAngela Raynersaid she will be making the final decision as to whether the project can go ahead in October after Tower Hamlets Council rejected the proposal.

But its creation has the potential to impact every Londoner, who will be even more at risk of China’s espionage tactics.

China’s ‘modern-day dungeon and secret tunnel’ beneath the city

Security expert Will Geddes told Metro that the unnamed rooms ‘could be used for anything’, and the fact its purpose has been redacted is concerning.

He said: ‘These rooms could be used for detentions, planning, and even weaponry. All of which can be utilised against dissenters.’

In 2023, it was revealed the Chinese embassy was running overseas police stations to harass dispersed communities and coerce people to return to China.

Shadow Levelling Up Secretary Kevin Hollinrake said the unnamed basement could even be a ‘modern-day dungeon’.

In a letter to the prime minister, Mr Hollinrake said: ‘Why does the use of the basement rooms need to be redacted, given they are not in public sight and there is no public access?

‘This subterranean zone will undeniably be used for intelligence work by theChineseCommunist Party and its arm, the United Front Work Department.

‘But there is also a chilling prospect that it could be used for the abduction, intimidation or torture of anti-Chinese dissidents living in the United Kingdom.’

China’s access to communication cables

Last year MI5 were reportedly worried about the building’s close proximity to major communication cables, leaving them susceptible to an attack.

Will told Metro: ‘A super-embassy would become the mothership of all lucrative communication.

‘The surveillance capabilities will be much greater, but being next to these important cables raises an even greater risk.’

He explained the China will ‘easily’ be intercept the wires by hot tapping.

‘Or they can just set up their own, which we in turn would struggle to intercept,’ Will said.

UK government has also raised private concerns that drones manufactured in China are being used to take high-resolution images of critical infrastructure.

National grid uses cameras made by Chinese companies to take pictures of electricity substations, Bloomberg reports.

China’s increased access to business

As the UK moves to try and shake the economic grip China has on us, it seems to be a backwards step allowing the super-embassy an opportunity for a greater influence.

On Saturday MPs approvedgovernmentplans to take control of British Steel’s blast furnaces after negotiations with British Steel’s Chinese owners, Jingye, appeared to break down.

The company has stopped buying enough raw materials to keep the blast furnace going, with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds accusing them of failing to negotiate ‘in good faith’.

Will told Metro: ‘China is well ahead of us in terms of technology, and they have this uncanny ability of acquiring significant shareholding in the UK.

‘The creation of the super-embassy will just bring it closer to business, and this can provide the country with a greater legitimacy of having a foothold so they can undertake all parts of economic espionage.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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