China says it was “strongly dissatisfied” with the UK’s delay in granting permission to allow Beijing to build a sprawling new embassy in London.
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the delay was “completely unreasonable” and the reasons for it “entirely untenable”.
“China is deeply concerned and strongly dissatisfied” with the delay, he told a news conference, adding that the application to build the embassy was submitted long ago.
Beijing bought the site, which once housed the Royal Mint, in 2018 for a reported $327 million.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer suggested on Tuesday that “particular security implications” meant that more time was needed to consider the planning application.
The decision is viewed as a key issue in Starmer’s attempts to reset relations with China, which remain strained by accusations of spying and by tensions over the fate of Hong Kong, a former British colony.
The Chinese embassy in London accused Starmer on Tuesday of “groundless accusations” after he said China posed a national security threat to Britain in a speech a day earlier.
China’s Super Embassy
Spanning an impressive 20,000 square kilometres, the proposed site dwarfs the premises currently used by Chinese diplomats in London.
Located directly opposite the Tower of London, it lies within easy reach of several key strategic landmarks. The ambitious “super embassy” plans were first rejected by local authorities in 2022. After Labour’s general election victory last year, Beijing resubmitted the application with no meaningful alterations—and in December 2024, Tower Hamlets Council rejected it once again.
The project has aroused widespread suspicion for multiple reasons. While it includes a cultural centre and accommodation for around 200 staff, the submitted plans show basement rooms hidden behind security doors labelled “redacted for security reasons,” with no explanation of their purpose.
Since the proposal has been rejected by the local council, the government now has the last say. Earlier, Rayner gave China two weeks to explain why certain sections of the blueprint it submitted for the expansive embassy location were blacked out.
If the proposal is approved, China is anticipated to invest hundreds of millions of dollars to refurbish the facility and make it the largest embassy in Europe, which is already under CCTV surveillance and patrolled by Chinese security guards.
As per a BBC News report, a studio-clicked photo of a woman along with a £95,000 bounty was found pasted outside the structure that will become home to the Chinese super embassy. “Provide information on this wanted person and the related crime or take her to the Chinese embassy,” the poster reads.
The “wanted person,” Carmen Lau, is a former Hong Kong resident who fled Hong Kong in 2021 as pro-democracy activists in the territory were being arrested.
Carmen says that the super embassy should not be allowed to come up in London, expressing fears that it could be used to harass or even arrest political dissidents.
Photo via X
International rights organizations have urged the British government to reject the plan because they are concerned about a rise in Chinese espionage and infiltration efforts against Tibetans, Uyghurs, Hong Kong residents, and supporters of the British democratic movement.
The planned embassy “would serve as a hub for China’s authoritarian agenda, targeting dissidents, monitoring communities, and undermining democratic values on British soil,” the Free Tibet group said in a post on X earlier this year.
The biggest concern about the super embassy is spying. The residents have been protesting the Chinese ‘super embassy’ plans, saying that it could lead to security risks and spying attempts.
The locals living near the site have expressed alarm about their personal security. “Our office is just facing it, and we are one unit in a block of maybe 2,000 employees who work there, and I’ve not heard anybody say one good thing about it,” said Barry, an insurance broker who spoke to CNN.
The Chinese super embassy, it is believed, would also pose a threat to the US super-embassy in Nine Elms, located just a few kilometers away.
China has been accused of spying by several countries across the world, particularly in the West. In fact, the relationship between the UK and China deteriorated during the Conservative government due to suspicions of Chinese spying and meddling in the country’s internal affairs.
In October 2023, British MI5 warned that more than 20,000 people in the UK had been approached covertly online by Chinese spies. It warned that tens of thousands of British businesses were at risk of having their innovation stolen.
The British intelligence agency, M15, has also warned that the new embassy building would be extremely close to crucial communication cables, which could be compromised or attacked by the Chinese in a potential espionage attempt.
Additionally, London’s Metropolitan Police asserted that if the project goes through, it will lead to protests by locals and will divert troops from national security duties to the region to control the protestors.
“Policing this proposed Embassy would require officers to be taken away from frontline duties to fulfill the requirement of policing spontaneous and known protests at this location,” Jon Savell, Deputy Assistant Commissioner of Special Operations, said in a letter dated November 14 last year.
However, China has dismissed these “suspicions” as a smear campaign launched by the British media. The Chinese embassy told the BBC it “is committed to promoting understanding and the friendship between the Chinese and British peoples and the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries. Building the new embassy would help us better perform such responsibilities”.
- By ET Online Desk
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