US legislators alert to the Chinese planned London Embassy on the eve of the Starmer-Trump meeting
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US legislators have expressed concern for the UK because of the Chinese plan for the construction of a huge embassy in London, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to meet with President Donald Trump.
Chris Smith, Republican Chairman of the Congress Executive Commission, and John Moolenar, a Republican boss The Chinese Committee of the HouseThey said they were concerned that the UK was rewarded with China despite its records of human rights and transnational repression.
“The underwriting of the Chinese Communist Government with the largest embassy in Europe is a counterproductive and untreated award,” MPs wrote on Wednesday, British Ambassador Lord Peter Mandelson.
Smith and Moolenar said he would let China build a huge embassy on the site of a former court clerk awarded when thousands of political prisoners would be detained in Hong Kong, including media mogul and British citizen Jimmy Lai.
Lai, who founded the now defective Apple Daily, has been detained in Hong Kong since 2020. Democracy activist is charged with foreign agreement and conspiracy of publishing a sedinated material through his media group, he accuses him of denies.
“The recognition of the Chinese Communist Government thus emphasized the diplomatic stronghold in the UK will only strengthen its efforts to intimidate and harass citizens and dissidents in the UK throughout Europe who opposed or criticize his policy,” they added.
Critics from the United Kingdom and the US also caused concern about the release of Beijing to build an embassy so close to the city of London because of the site of a critical communication infrastructure that could facilitate the spy.
“This is a certain place where the wires and pipes last below,” said Tom Tugendhat, a conservative MP and a former state minister of security in the UK.
Tugendhat, who is also a guy at the Think-Tank Hudson Institute in Washington, said Beijing allowed the mega embassy to build a mega embassy at that location, sent an inappropriate message in terms of how China acts around the world.
“The embassies tell the story, and the story that this embassy says is that it will be the biggest stand for the Chinese Communist Party in Europe,” Tugendhat said.
Smith and Moolenar asked Mandelson to convey concerns about the embassy during his visit. It remains unclear whether Trump’s administration expressed his opinion of the British government on the planned embassy.
“We know that Prime Minister Starmer has expressed concern about detention Jimmy Lai and promised to release his priority in the UK,” they said. “We invite him to use his meeting with President Trump to coordinate the effects to gain Lai’s unconditional release.”
In October Trump told Hugh Hewitt Show Yes He would provide a layman’s edition. “100 percent.. It will be easy to get out.”
The US Congress Pressure comes while the UK enhances a diplomatic engagement with China, accusing the previous Government of Tory to weaken the important channels of communication.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Minister David Lammy have visited Beijing in recent months. Starmer is expected to travel there this year. The British Labor Government views China as a key source of further investment in the UK.
The Chinese Embassy in London did not immediately respond to the comment request.
