Chinese officials plan to construct a concealed underground chamber adjacent to some of Britain’s most sensitive communications infrastructure as part of their proposed new “super embassy” in London, according to planning documents reviewed by The Telegraph.
The chamber forms part of an extensive subterranean complex comprising 208 rooms beneath the embassy site at the former Royal Mint.
The Telegraph reports:
The drawings show that a single concealed chamber will sit directly alongside fibre-optic cables transmitting financial data to the City of London, as well as email and messaging traffic for millions of internet users.
The same hidden room is fitted with hot-air extraction systems, possibly suggesting the installation of heat-generating equipment such as advanced computers used for espionage. The plans also show that China intends to demolish and rebuild the outer basement wall of the chamber, directly beside the fibre-optic cables.
The revelations have prompted sharp criticism from senior UK Conservative figures, including Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister, who described approving the plans as providing “a launchpad for economic warfare at the heart of the central nervous system of our critical national infrastructure”.
“The unredacted plans reveal a concealed room running immediately alongside the fibre-optic cables critical to the City and Canary Wharf. Telegraph readers don’t need me to spell out the obvious threats posed, nor China’s subterfuge – so why does the Labour Government?” Ms. Kearns told the newspaper.
The Telegraph further reports on why the proximity to the cables is cause for national security concerns:
Carrying signals bearing the innermost financial secrets of the British economy, the cables stretch between the Telehouse group of data centres in Docklands and other centres around the capital. Linked together, these form the core of the London Internet Exchange (Linx). Beyond London, they connect to Atlantic cables linking to the US.
Linx is one of the biggest internet exchange points in the world, handling vast volumes of data spanning everything from financial transactions to instant messages and emails.Its cables carry the financial transaction data relied upon by banks to update withdrawals and deposits, such as ordinary people’s salary packets and payments for goods bought online.
Professor Alan Woodward, a security expert at the University of Surrey, told The Telegraph that China’s plans pose a “red flag.”
“There’s a long history of cable-tapping by East and West alike. Anyone who can do it has done it,” Woodward said. “Espionage isn’t just about state secrets. Economic intelligence is central to the mission of foreign intelligence services.”
“If I were in their shoes, having those cables on my doorstep would be an enormous temptation,” he added.
Dominic Cummings, who served as then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief aide, said MI5 warned him China was “trying to build a spy centre underneath the embassy”.
Nonetheless, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly expected to approve the embassy construction plans ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s high-stakes visit to Britain.
Just bloody brilliant, mate!
Loading recommendations…
Read the full article here