Residents in central London have lost a High Court challenge against the Government’s decision to give the go-ahead for a new Chinese super-embassy in the capital.
The Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association (RMCRA) has already confirmed it will appeal the decision and a spokesman for the group said: “The fight continues”.
Legal action was launched against plans for the new embassy in Tower Hamlets after the association argued that it would breach local people’s human rights.
Planning conditions imposed as part of approving the development are worthless as China does not have to abide by them due to the Vienna Convention protection of diplomatic premises, the association said.
The local residents also say there was a failure to make public two documents, one on security and the second on the terror blast assessment, so people could not comment on them as part of the planning process.
They also cited the fact that some of the rooms on the plans for the embassy, near the Tower of London, had been redacted.
The judges concluded that the first three grounds could go to a review but then dismissed them.
The court found “that the Secretary of State had not acted unlawfully” in approving the application, they ruled.
The Government defended the RMCRA claim, saying it “conscientiously and carefully had regard” to the residents’ concerns.
The judgement came just the day after The Standard revealed that a residential block of flats could collapse if there was a major terror attack on the embassy, according to a “sensitive” document produced for Tower Hamlets Council.
People could also be injured within nearly 180 metres of the planned diplomatic complex.
The new embassy has faced fierce opposition, partly due to concerns that China will turn it into a huge spying centre which could be used to target the City, Parliament, Whitehall and other countries in Europe.
Ministers insists that they followed planning rules in giving the go-ahead for the new embassy which at 20,000-square metres would be the biggest in Europe.
Beijing had threatened “consequences” if the UK government rejected the proposed development.
China purchased the Royal Mint Court site for £255 million in 2018, and it included the homes of around 200 local residents.
Local residents recently raised concerns after razor wire was put up at the site after a security incident.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Thanks to this unserious Labour government, Britain's national security is set to be compromised by a new Chinese super embassy spy hub operating in the heart of our capital.
“The court’s decision is a clear test for Andy Burnham. Will he put our country’s interests first, stand up to Beijing, protect our national security and do the right thing by ditching this dreadful plan - a legacy of the failed Starmer years?”
