The Speaker of the US House of Representatives has said he wished America had been able to acquire the London site slated for a controversial Chinese “super embassy”.
Mike Johnson, of the Republican Party, said there was “some symbolism” behind the fact China had been able to acquire the site at the Royal Mint Court over the US.
However, speaking to Sky News’ Mornings with Ridge and Frost ahead of his address to the UK parliament on Tuesday, Mr Johnson said the plan for a large Chinese embassy close to sensitive communication cables did not mark a “great development from our perspective”.
“That’s a great location for an embassy,” he told presenter Wilfred Frost.
“I wish the US had taken that spot instead of China… there is some symbolism to that.
“I think that’s part of the concern, just from friends who – and I say this as constructive criticism to our friends here – but it does send a certain message, it seems, that China would have such a prominent place and have such, as they would call it, a mega-embassy.”
Protesters rallied outside the site to oppose the plan on Saturday, ahead of a decision being handed down on Tuesday.
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Ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s trip to China later this month, Mr Johnson said he understood the need to solidify trade links with Beijing in the face of Mr Trump’s tariff threat, but urged leaders to be “very cautious and careful”.
“I wish that there was a lesser reliance upon China for everyone around the world,” he said.
When pressed on whether Mr Trump would put boots on the ground in Greenland without the approval of Congress, Mr Johnson said: “Under our constitutional system, the Congress has to declare war. I don’t foresee any scenario where we’re declaring war on Greenland.”
“If it comes to a large-scale military incursion, I mean, you would have to involve Congress in that,” he added.
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Mr Johnson refuted suggestions Mr Trump could take action in Greenland without the approval of Congress, as he did in Venezuela during an operation to capture its president Nicolas Maduro.
“I would dispute that we’ve had any kind of long-term incursion in Venezuela. We did not occupy Venezuela. We didn’t declare war,” he said.
Mr Johnson backed the actions of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by an officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.
“The conflict in Minneapolis is brought about because you have citizens who, by the way, are being inspired and encouraged by their local and state officials to impede the activity of ICE, to impede law enforcement, and trying to apprehend criminals and that’s where the conflict comes,” he said.
Mr Johnson denied Americans had any reason to be fearful of ICE.
“I think there are a lot of false narratives. There is no reason for any law-abiding citizen to be in fear of anything,” he said.
Mr Johnson added: “She had parked her vehicle and stopped the progress of ICE for quite some time. She was trying to irritate them and get in their way, and that’s why that terrible outcome took place.
“It was tragic. It should not have happened.”
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Ahead of his address on Tuesday that will make him the first US Speaker to address UK parliament, Mr Johnson said the US and Britain had a close relationship and shared the “principles of Western civilisation”.
“We have this common bond, common heritage,” he said.
“It has made it a special relationship, as everyone acknowledges, and that friendship was really forged in the 20th century through the great wars and all the things we went through together.”
His speech marks 250 years since the US became independent from Britain.
