Foundational American Ally Approves Chinese Super-Embassy In Capital

The UK’s Labour Party-controlled government has approved plans for China to build a sprawling new embassy complex in central London, despite warnings from lawmakers, security officials, and Chinese dissidents who say the project poses serious national security risks.

British Housing Secretary Steve Reed formally signed off Tuesday on the 600,000-square-foot complex at Royal Mint Court, near the Tower of London and the city’s financial district. The approval comes just days before Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to visit China — the first by a British prime minister since 2018 — to boost diplomatic and economic ties with Beijing.

Critics have long warned that the embassy could be used for intelligence gathering or to monitor and intimidate Chinese nationals and dissidents living in the UK.

“Labour’s greenlighting of the Chinese Embassy has gifted the Chinese Communist Party a launchpad for economic warfare in the heart of London,” Alicia Kearns, the shadow minister for national security and safeguarding for the opposition Conservative Party, wrote on X following the decision. “What message does it send to the CPC which has committed cyber attacks, attempted to attack our parliament, and intimidates those who sought refuge here?”

China purchased the site in 2018 for roughly £255 million. The historic property, once used to mint Britain’s currency, faced repeated delays and legal challenges. Local authorities initially rejected the embassy plans in 2022 over safety and security concerns, prompting Beijing to pressure the UK government.

Critics argue that the embassy’s location places it dangerously close to underground fiber-optic cables that transmit sensitive financial and personal data between London’s two main financial hubs, raising concerns about espionage. Others have raised alarms that the embassy could be used to monitor and intimidate Hong Kong and Uyghur exiles living in the UK.

Days before the approval, The Telegraph reported that unredacted architectural plans showed China intends to build an underground complex containing 208 rooms beneath the embassy. One room, according to the report, would sit just feet from underground data lines carrying internet traffic and sensitive financial data of millions..

Nevertheless, a 240-page planning decision concluded that “the proposal complies with the development plan when taken as a whole,” and as such “planning permission and listed building consent should be granted.”

Conservative foreign affairs spokeswoman Priti Patel accused the Labour Party of having “kowtowed to China rather than defend our national interests.”

“Labour’s decision to grant the Chinese Communist Party their super embassy spyhub in the heart of London is wrong,” Patel wrote on X. “Keir Starmer has undermined our national security and rewarded a regime that’s damaging our interests, threatening Hong Kongers living here, and continues to imprison Jimmy Lai.”

The government said it had worked “with policing, and other relevant partners, to ensure that the breadth of national security issues associated with this planning application have been considered and addressed,” according to the Associated Press.

UK intelligence heads at MI5 and Government Communications Headquarters said “it is not realistic to expect to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk,” posed by the Chinese super-embassy but that measures put in place are “professional and proportionate.”

Kearns, however, pushed back on the government’s assessment, saying, “No one can tell me what capabilities the CPC will develop and that we will be able to mitigate them.”

“Even if we can, at what financial cost? Is the British Taxpayer footing the bill?” Kearns questioned on X. “How much additional budget will have to be allocated for decades to come to mitigate future technological capabilities?”

The embassy approval has also drawn attention from U.S. officials. Speaker Mike Johnson, visiting the UK this week, said security concerns “seem real,” adding that he “would be very cautious about that.” Trump administration officials also reportedly warned London privately that the embassy could pose a threat to national and allied security.

Diplomatic considerations have also reportedly influenced the decision to approve the embassy. The UK requires China’s approval to renovate its embassy in Beijing, a process Beijing has reportedly delayed while pressing for permission to build its new London facility. Chinese officials warned in 2025 that Britain would “bear all consequences” if approval were denied.

Separately, President Donald Trump on Tuesday blasted the UK’s plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, saying it signals weakness to Beijing. One of the islands, Diego Garcia, is the site of a key U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean.

“Shockingly, our ‘brilliant’ NATO Ally, the United Kingdom, is currently planning to give away the Island of Diego Garcia, the site of a vital U.S. Military Base, to Mauritius, and to do so FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “There is no doubt that China and Russia have noticed this act of total weakness.”

The Trump administration previously supported the Chagos Islands deal, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio issuing a statement in May saying, “Following a comprehensive interagency review, the Trump Administration determined that this agreement secures the long-term, stable, and effective operation of the joint U.S.-UK military facility at Diego Garcia.”