The Chinese government wants a new, extra large embassy building that would fit more than six football pitches, MaltaToday can reveal.
The decision to move out of the current building in St Julian’s to a much larger one comes in the wake of the controversy surrounding the new American mega embassy compound in Ta’ Qali, and is bound to stir a hornet’s nest given the Chinese government’s insistence that it be given vast stretches of land at preferential rates.
In fact, Chinese Ambassador to Malta Chai Xi has asked the government for a plot of land of up to 10,000 square metres in Pembroke – a prime site that has been earmarked for development by foreign powers since World War II.
The country that boasts of the Great Wall, allegedly visible from the moon, now wants to leave its indelible mark on Malta’s tranquil locality of garigue, shooting ranges and abandoned army barracks.
The plans have been kept largely under wraps by China and questions sent to the Chinese embassy remained unanswered.
An embassy spokesman confirmed the plans, but limited himself to saying they were “at a very early stage” and that no negotiations had yet started.
“We are just at the very beginning,” the spokesman said. “There are no detailed plans yet, and no negotiations.”
Government sources, however, say the Chinese have already made their explicit request for the land at the start of last summer in a bid to expand their property, specifically in the Pembroke area.
The request is being processed by the Lands Department within the Home Affairs Ministry, in collaboration with the Office of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Office.
“They are requesting government land that would not be sold at commercial prices,” a source said. “They pushing aggressively for a site in Pembroke, and they have made it clear they are not that keen on Ta’ Qali.”
Sources say the Chinese have also turned down the government’s idea to have their embassy relocated to Ta’ Qali, close to the American embassy, although the exact reasons behind their refusal remains unclear.
The government’s line of thinking is that while it wants to avoid yet another controversy at all costs, it would still make sense to have a large Chinese embassy given the investment potential from the up and coming superpower.
Yet again, the commercial factor is considered to be a prime political liability for the Gonzi administration, even though Labour’s close connections to the Chinese regime might mean that this time round, the Opposition will keep its mouth shut about any transfer of land to Beijing, no matter the price.
Despite the incredible distance, Malta and China have always had a relationship of sorts, since Prime Minister Mintoff began flirting with maverick Communist regimes in the early 1970s. Il-Perit in fact became the first Western leader to formally recognise China, with a visit to Beijing under Communist dictator Chairman Mao Tse Tung in 1972 – a year before US President Richard Nixon’s celebrated rapprochement – and Malta was also one of the first countries in the world to open an embassy there.
The Chinese were quick to return the favour. Not only did they send their resident envoy here, but they also signed a friendship agreement that is still ongoing, and which provides for up to Lm100,000 in kind to Malta every three years.
Their latest donation has filled up the extravagant Lm9 million-plus Dar Malta in Brussels with office furniture, with the People’s Republic of China flying Maltese officials directly to their capital to choose and order the furniture and fittings, produced specifically for Malta by Chinese manufacturers.
Incidentally, the Chinese furniture ended up facing the full wrath of Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana, as handlers unpacked chipped chairs, broken desks and other items damaged or missing on the long trek from Beijing, just on the grand opening day of the house in Brussels.
“It’s a shame,” Cachia Caruana had told MaltaToday about the damaged furniture. “But it detracts nothing from the Chinese government’s generosity. We’re very grateful to the Chinese for their donation.”
The furniture was donated as part of a long standing government agreement with China as the two countries celebrated “35 years of friendship”.
“The furniture fits in nicely, give or take the breakages and the missing pieces. It’s the right kind of modern furniture you would find in most of the offices everywhere,” he added. “Unfortunately some of it was damaged in transit… I don’t know if it was the shippers or the handlers.”
The idea of using furniture donated by a foreign government in a Maltese embassy may sound bizarre, although Foreign Minister Michael Frendo defended the decision taken by the Finance Ministry last December as a good way to put funds donated to Malta to good use.
Now, it seems, it’s Malta’s turn to return the favour.

kschembri@mediatoday.com.mt