The UK Government has again postponed a decision to approve China’s application for a new super-embassy in London.
Housing Secretary Steve Reed had been due to rule on the application by 21 October, 2025, but the deadline has been pushed back to December 10, 2025.
It is the second time the government has delayed a decision on the controversial site.
A ruling had originally been due by September 9, 2025, after Ministers took control of the process from Tower Hamlets, the local council, last year.
China bought the site of the proposed new embassy, at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London, for £255m in 2018.
At 20,000 square metres, the proposed complex would be the biggest embassy in Europe if it goes ahead. However, Beijing’s plans for the sprawling new embassy have sparked fears its location; near London’s financial district, could pose an espionage risk.
Pro-democracy campaigners from Hong Kong also fear Beijing could use the huge embassy to harass political opponents and even detain them and residents nearby also fear it would pose a security risk to them and attract large protests.
The postponement comes after a parliamentary committee urged Reed to block China’s plans, raising fears of espionage.
The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy (JCNSS) said that approving the application was “not in the UK’s long-term interest” in a letter to the Minister.
Committee Chairman Matt Western MP wrote to Reed saying that the proposed location presents “eavesdropping risks in peacetime and sabotage risks in a crisis” due to its proximity to fibre-optic cables, data centres and telecoms exchanges serving Canary Wharf and the City.
He also noted reports of plans for basement rooms and tunnels and that the security services have warned that allowing Beijing to set up the biggest embassy in Europe would create a hub for the country to expand its “intelligence gathering and intimidation operations.”
Detailed Nature Of Concerns
Downing Street suggested the “detailed nature” of concerns about the plans were behind the postponement.
The Prime Minister’s official Spokesman told reporters, “Given the detailed nature of the representations that have been provided, and the need to give parties sufficient opportunity to respond, MHCLG (The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government) consider that more time is needed for full consideration of the applications.”
“You are aware that this is a quasi-judicial decision, independent from the rest of Government. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment further when the case is before MHCLG Ministers.”
Spokesman
Meanwhile, Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp accused the government of being “scared” to give planning consent.
“Now the Government is too scared of the public to give planning consent to the Chinese spying base as they had planned to and they’re too scared of the Chinese to say ‘no’. Hence the delay. Contemptible.”
Chris Philp
Shadow Housing Secretary, Sir James Cleverly called for the planning review to have access to “full unredacted drawings” for the plans.
He said that UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer should follow the lead of Ireland and Australia when faced with similar proposals from Russia and ensure his government throws out the “sinister application.”
The Liberal Democrats accused the Government of “kicking the can down the road.”
Calum Miller, the party’s Foreign Affairs Spokesman, said, “It’s beyond time this embassy proposal was put out of its misery – and that the Government send a signal to China that we will no longer roll over in the face of their industrial espionage.”
