The UK government has approved China’s request to build its largest embassy in Europe in London, hoping to improve ties with China despite British and U.S. politicians’ warnings that it could be used as a base for spying.
China plans to build a new embassy on the site of the two-century-old Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London, a proposition which have stalled for three years over opposition from residents, lawmakers and Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners in Britain.
The government said after the decision that intelligence agencies were involved throughout the approval process and devised a range of protective security measures.
“National security is our first duty,” a government spokesperson said in a statement.
The government has approved the new embassy after years of diplomatic pressure from China as Starmer tries to reset relations with Beijing, which is one of his foreign policy priorities.
New Chinese Embassy
The Chinese government purchased the Royal Mint Court in 2018, but its requests for planning permission to build a new embassy on the site were rejected by the local council in 2022.
Some politicians in Britain and the United States have said China should be barred from building on the site near London’s historic financial district because it might enable Beijing to eavesdrop on fibre-optic cables that are used by finance firms and travel underneath the area.
British security officials had warned that allowing China to build a much larger embassy would mean more Chinese spies in Britain as well as more diplomats, an assertion dismissed by the Chinese embassy in London.
The head of Britain’s MI5 domestic spy agency said in October his spy agency had more than a century of experience dealing with foreign embassies, suggesting any security risks could be managed. But MI5 has also warned of a threat posed by attempts by China to recruit and cultivate people with access to the British government.
