Guards at China’s future super-embassy have been recorded apparently wielding illegal electroshock weapons, The Telegraph can disclose.

In a video seen by The Telegraph, security officers at the site in the City of London can be seen brandishing what appear to be electric batons in a confrontation with youths near one of the site’s gates.

The weapons are banned in the UK under Section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police (Met) said that inquiries were continuing after the incident was reported to the force.

Last week, a video emerged of guards at the current Chinese embassy in London also apparently brandishing electroshock weapons at protesters.

Concerns over new embassy

This latest incident adds to the controversy over the new Chinese embassy at Royal Mint Court, which is under construction after it was approved by the Government in January.

A Telegraph investigation revealed plans for secret tunnels under the site, which were redacted in public blueprints, with one underground chamber positioned directly next to crucial internet cables used by major financial organisations in the City.

Residents neighbouring the site are increasingly concerned about what will happen when the Chinese state moves in.

Last month, the High Court dismissed a legal challenge from those living next to the site, ruling that the embassy project could proceed despite fears it could lead to terrorist attacks, the repression of dissent, or the targeting of dissidents.

Mark Nygate, treasurer of the local Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association, said: “We are living in a prison.”

He told The Telegraph that the latest incident “goes to highlight the concerns that the Royal Mint residents brought up at the council strategic development committee, the planning inquiry and at the High Court”, adding that “our fight against the embassy plan has to continue”.

The latest footage, which was filmed in May, shows guards confronting a group of youths throwing bottles over the fence of the embassy site.

One of the guards is seen holding what looks to be an electroshock baton. The weapon is not used in the video.

It is the second time in a week that China has been accused of deploying the weapons at one of its buildings in London.

Video footage previously obtained by The i Paper appeared to show guards at the current Chinese embassy in Portland Place waving the batons at protesters during a vigil for Lobga Rangzen, a Tibetan activist who died after setting himself on fire outside the UN headquarters in New York in July.

Last week, almost 20 human rights organisations, including Free Tibet, Hong Kong Watch and Stop Uyghur Genocide, wrote an open letter to Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, urging him to exempt the embassy grounds from diplomatic immunity so a police investigation could “proceed unobstructed”.

The letter questioned how such weapons entered the country, noting that whether they arrived in diplomatic baggage or were purchased locally, the situation raised serious questions about “potentially unlawful conduct”. The groups also asked what assurance the public had “that nothing else prohibited under UK law is held there”.

Luke de Pulford, founder of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: “We need an urgent inquiry into how many of these weapons are held illegally in Chinese premises across the UK, and swift action taken to prosecute those responsible, or expel offenders if prosecution is impossible due to immunity.”

Similarities with 2022 Manchester incident

The escalating tension draws parallels to a 2022 incident at the Chinese consulate in Manchester, when a protester was dragged onto the grounds and beaten. While the then-Conservative government requested that six diplomats be made available for questioning, they instead left the UK, and no charges were brought.

Tim Law, Britain’s former defence attaché to Beijing, said: “It’s difficult to understand why the People’s Republic of China lacks confidence in British law enforcement agencies’ capacity to protect their diplomatic premises in the UK.

“If the systems alleged to have been observed have been illicitly imported to the UK by embassy staff, potentially through the diplomatic bag, the ambassador should be required to answer for it.”

He added that as a former staff member in the British embassy in Beijing, it was “very difficult to imagine the circumstances” in which such weapons would be required.

A Met Police spokesman said: “On Saturday, 29 August at 22:32 hours, police received a third-party online report of a person with a suspected electroshock device at Royal Mint Court, EC3N.

“It is believed the report relates to an incident on Saturday, 16 May 2026.

“Initial enquiries remain ongoing.”