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The British government has given the green light to plans for China to build a “giant” embassy near London’s financial district, despite warnings from MPs, residents and exiled Chinese dissidents that the vast embassy could pose a security risk.
China bought the site of the Royal Mint, where Britain once minted coins, in 2018 for about $312 million. But a decision on plans for a new 20,000 square meter (215,000 square foot) embassy, which would be China’s largest diplomatic hub in Europe, was postponed three times until the government gave approval on Tuesday.
The delay reflects uncertainty about the UK government’s approach to China. Britain wants China’s money and diplomatic goodwill, but has long been wary of allowing Beijing to build an embassy near fiber-optic cables carrying sensitive data from financial firms, and fears it could be used to spy on Chinese nationals living in London.
The planning decision, a 240-page document, concluded that “the proposals, taken as a whole, comply with the development plan” and that “planning permission and listed building permission should be granted”.
Days before the government’s approval, British newspaper the Telegraph reported that unredacted plans indicated that China intended to build a 208-room complex beneath the embassy. One of the rooms will be located just a few feet away, next to the fiber-optic cables that carry the email traffic and financial data of millions of British citizens, the paper said.
Alicia Kearns, the opposition Conservative party’s shadow national security minister, warned last week that if approved, the plan would “give the Chinese Communist Party a launching pad to wage economic war against us” and “become a daily headache for our security services”.
Britain’s domestic spy agency, MI5, has not lodged a formal objection to the embassy plan, despite warnings of a broader threat from China. After publishing its annual threat update in October, the agency’s director-general, Ken McCallum, told reporters: “Do Chinese state actors present a national security threat to the UK? The answer is, of course, yes. They do it every day.”
MI5 also issued an unusual warning in November, warning MPs that Chinese intelligence services were using LinkedIn to pose as recruiters and target people working in parliament. The Chinese Embassy in London dismissed the claims as “malicious defamation”.
Britain’s decision may have been influenced by the fact that it needs Chinese approval to renovate its embassy in Beijing. China is reportedly delaying Britain’s plans while seeking the green light for a new embassy in London that would allow it to move from its current outpost near Regent’s Park.
But Britain was also concerned that denying China permission to build a new embassy could have a negative impact on trade relations between the two countries. In desperate need of good economic news, Keir Starmer – the first British prime minister in six years to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping – called for a “consistent, lasting and respectful” relationship with China in 2024 and greater business cooperation between the two countries.
However, the economic situation is mixed. In the four quarters to the end of Q2 2025, China was the UK’s fourth largest trading partner, accounting for 5.5% of the UK’s total trade, but Kearns highlighted the decline, with official figures showing that UK goods exports to China fell by 23% over the same period.
“It’s always been bad policy to give up our security for trade with China, but to give up our security when our exports are plummeting is, frankly, madness,” he told Congress.
Mr Xi has shown a personal interest in the new embassy and raised the matter directly with Mr Starmer in their first telephone conversation in 2024. After a debate, Mr Starmer “called in” the planning application from the local council, which had refused permission, in 2022, giving the government a final say on the project. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson also warned that the UK “will bear all consequences” if permission is refused.
Plans for a new embassy have also alarmed Chinese people, including Hong Kongers and pro-democracy activists living in London. Carmen Lau, an activist with the Hong Kong Democratic Council who defected to London in 2021, told CNN last year that she feared the embassy could be used to spy on and harass people who oppose the Chinese government in exile.
Hong Kong police have charged Lau with secession and collusion with a foreign government, issued a warrant for her arrest, and then offered a HK$1 million (about $128,000) reward to anyone who can provide information about her or bring her to the Chinese embassy.
Last year, a Chinese embassy spokesperson said it was “regrettable” that Britain had repeatedly postponed the decision and accused Britain of “totally lacking the spirit of the deal”.
