THE plans for a new Chinese “super embassy” in London should be rejected, the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service MI6 Sir Richard Dearlove has said.
Asked if the proposed plan should be blocked, he told GB News: “Well, in my opinion, it should be. Countries like Russia, China, they have their embassies but I think the symbolism of putting the Chinese in a building which is so prominent on the edge of the city, the largest embassy they’ll have in Europe, one of the largest in the world, it doesn’t sort of send the right message about our relationship with China.
“And then there is the added problem of the location of the embassy, and cables which carry sensitive information which could perhaps be accessed from that building. There are also, I don’t want to go into the technology of tapping cables and all that sort of stuff, but I think there is a real problem, and I cannot imagine now that the government, I mean, they’re going to be in an awfully difficult position if on the 10th of December they turn around and say permission is granted for the embassy.”
On warning that has ramped up its spying efforts in the UK, he added: “The Chinese in particular are very active in the intelligence dimension. And this latest warning is an example of their methodology, using the internet to inveigle people who might be in need of money, let’s say, into a relationship where they’re paid a huge sum of money for doing some banal consultancy, and then the Chinese escalate the relationship.
“People like me have been shouting about this threat from the sidelines for a very, very long time, and at long last, the country is waking up to it very late in the day. And the problem is very real.
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“I mean, the Chinese have become very aggressive in this dimension. I’ve got a big article coming out on Friday, in The Spectator. Read it, because it covers a lot of these issues. It covers the threat from Chinese technology and electric vehicles, all sorts of issues.
“But I’m afraid we have a problem. And I mean, listening to the minister, he talks a great talk. He’s very fluent about the defence issue, but the truth about the Labour government is, unless they cut the welfare bill and start spending immediately on defence, they’re not going to get this done quickly enough.
“National security should be a top priority. It should be as important as the National Health Service…at the moment, they’re trying to kid us that they’re spending whatever it is 2.8% of GDP on defence. Those figures are fixed. It’s not like that.
“They’re not doing it fast enough. There’s a lack of urgency, and they’ve got themselves into a dreadful problem with too much technology from China, which is Chinese control in our critical infrastructure.”