Espionage fears over new Chinese embassy

CHINA'S fast-evolving surveillance technology could turn its planned super-embassy compound in London into a “palace of espionage dreams”, intelligence sources warn.

- By Marco Giannangeli DIPLOMATIC EDITOR

Officials are particularly concerned by Chinese breakthroughs in laser-acoustic interception, which capture speech by reading microscopic vibrations from windows or walls.

The site — bought in 2018 and situated near the Tower of London and the City — includes an undeclared section of the blueprint labelled the Office of Friendship, understood by Western agencies to be a euphemism for a signals-intelligence room designed to intercept communications across central London.

An intelligence source said the hidden space would host equipment capable of “voice interception penetration” — capturing voice and electronic data from sites such as the Ministry of Defence, MI5, MI6 and Scotland Yard.

“We don’t know everything about their latest voice-listening devices, so it’s best to view the situation as a long-term problem,” the source said.

The proposed embassy’s size and location are “especially challenging”. One concern is the six-acre site - China’s second-largest in Europe after Berlin - could provide line-of-sight access to key buildings along the Thames.