To the touchy relationship between global superpowers, add this gritty irritant: As Washington’s unemployment rate rose, China brought over hundreds of laborers to build its embassy in the U.S.
China has been using an aging motel in Washington for three years to house the army of workers who built the $250 million granite and glass embassy, which at 345,500 square feet is one of the city’s largest. Now, with the embassy scheduled to open today, some labor officials and lawmakers are being less than diplomatic in their criticism.
“This is outrageous,” says Mark Levinson, chief economist at Unite Here!, a union representing 450,000 industrial, textile and hotel employees nationwide. “When the U.S. is in a recession and Chinese imports are flooding into the U.S., the Chinese should be using American workers.”
China’s tight control over the construction of its embassy, about 4 miles from the White House, may be spurred by a history of espionage between geopolitical rivals, says Ashton Carter, a former U.S. assistant defense secretary.
The U.S. stopped construction of an embassy building in Moscow in 1985 after American officials found eavesdropping devices lodged in its walls.
“They think our workers will implant bugs,” says Carter. And if China isn’t careful “we probably will.”
Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy, says China followed international practices in the construction of the building.
Still, China’s refusal to use U.S. workers is unusual, says Robert McInturff, a U.S. State Department spokesperson.
The U.S. is employing hundreds of Chinese laborers to help build the new American Embassy in Beijing set to open Aug. 8. The only time American workers are mandated for U.S. embassy construction is in building classified areas, State Department spokesperson Nancy Beck said.
