Nearly a thousand Hongkongers from across the UK braved the winter cold to gather for the ninth time outside the proposed site of China’s “super embassy” at Royal Mint Court. They were joined by Uyghur, Tibetan, Burmese and Taiwanese communities, as well as affected British residents, to voice opposition to the development and protest against Chinese transnational repression. Demonstrators chanted slogans including “Mega Embassy, Mega Mistake” and “Bow to China, Lose Forever”, which echoed outside the site.
Despite the UK government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer ultimately approving the project, HKLRM Executive Director Christopher Mung said the decision would not deter opposition. “Whatever the outcome, our resistance to the CCP’s authoritarianism will not stop,” he said.
On the day the approval was announced, Mung attended a press conference to express the Hong Kong community’s disappointment and anger. He said the UK had been unable to compel Beijing to honour its commitments under the Sino-British Joint Declaration, leaving many Hongkongers forced into exile by repression. Allowing the same regime that drove them from their homes to expand its presence in Britain, he warned, had caused deep fear and led many to question whether the UK’s promises of safety and protection to Hongkongers could still be trusted.