UK approves controversial Chinese super embassy project, accused of being a tool of espionage

After several postponements, the British government gave the green light on Tuesday to the construction of a gigantic Chinese embassy in the heart of London, a project which fuels concerns about espionage and weighs on its relations with Beijing.

Critics of the project are particularly concerned about the risks of espionage linked to the future embassy. Fears fueled by several reports published in the British press in recent months on “secret rooms”, visible on the plans of the future building, and close to sensitive communications cables for the City.

The Labor government’s procrastination on this issue illustrates the delicate position of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has been trying to relaunch relations with China since coming to power in July 2024, while recognizing that this country represents a “threat” to the security of the United Kingdom.

“The decision is now final unless successfully challenged in court,” Minister for Housing and Local Communities Steve Reed said in a statement.

Possible visit by Prime Minister to China

This green light was expected, while an official visit by Keir Starmer to China is planned for the end of January, according to British media. Information not confirmed at this stage by Downing Street.

“National security is our top priority. Intelligence services were involved throughout the process and a wide range of measures were put in place to manage risks,” a government spokesperson stressed.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac), a group of parliamentarians from several countries, immediately condemned the decision on Tuesday. “This is a disastrous decision that ignores the appalling brutality of the Chinese Communist Party, which practices forced labor on its territory, spies on the UK and uses cyberattacks to undermine our internal security,” said one of its members, Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith.

“Spy Embassy”

Beijing has been trying for several years to move its embassy, ​​currently located in the upscale Marylebone district, to a site close to the Tower of London and the City’s business center.

Once built, it will become the largest embassy in the United Kingdom by area and the largest Chinese embassy in Western Europe.

China bought this 20,000 m2 plot of land in 2018 for 316 million euros, which had housed the Royal Mint, the official manufacturer of British coins, for almost two centuries and is now abandoned.

Demonstrations have regularly been organized in front of the site, the latest on Saturday. “We cannot allow the Chinese to build this spy embassy in such a crucial place for our national security,” said the leader of the conservative opposition Kemi Badenoch, present on site.

Beijing had expressed its impatience with the successive postponements of the decision. At the beginning of December, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, declared that his country was “strongly dissatisfied” and that the reasons given were “completely indefensible”.

Easing tense relations with Beijing

A few days earlier, Keir Starmer had clarified his line towards Beijing, affirming that he wanted to both “work and trade” with China, while “protecting himself” against a country which represents “a real threat to national security”.

London is also demanding the release of former media mogul and British pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, found guilty in December in Hong Kong of sedition and foreign collusion.

The Labor leader, however, wants to continue to ease bilateral relations which had become tense under his conservative predecessors, with criticism from London over the restriction of freedoms in Hong Kong and the treatment of the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang, and mutual accusations of espionage.

A thaw accelerated at the end of 2024 with a meeting between Keir Starmer and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 in Brazil, the first between the leaders of these two countries since 2018.