❓WHAT HAPPENED: The British government has approved China’s plans for a massive new embassy in central London, despite concerns about potential spying and security risks, including from the White House.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The decision was confirmed by Housing Secretary Steve Reed, of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party, with input from intelligence agencies including MI5 and GCHQ.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The embassy will be located at Royal Mint Court near the City of London, close to sensitive fiber-optic cable infrastructure.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Not realistic to expect to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk.” – Britain’s domestic spy chiefs Sir Ken McCallum, of MI5, and Anne Keast-Butler, of GCHQ.
🎯IMPACT: Critics argue the decision risks facilitating China’s surveillance efforts and compromising Britain’s national security, and by extension that of America and other Five Eyes partners.
The British government has approved China’s plans to build a new mega-embassy at Royal Mint Court in London, close to the City of London and near sensitive fibre-optic infrastructure, which could serve as an espionage facility, despite objections from the White House. Housing Secretary Steve Reed, of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s left-wing Labour Party, signed off on the development, claiming that bringing China’s diplomatic operations together in one location would provide “clear security advantages.”
The proposal had been delayed several times as the government sought to balance closer engagement with Beijing against warnings about potential national security risks. Government ministers said the decision was taken with the full involvement of the intelligence services. In a joint letter, the director general of the British domestic spy agency MI5, Sir Ken McCallum, and the director of GCHQ, Anne Keast-Butler, appeared to tacitly acknowledge the danger but claimed that eliminating every possible risk was “not realistic.”
The Trump administration has previously expressed concern that the embassy, and in particular its hundreds of previously undisclosed secret underground rooms, which will be sited close to the aforementioned cables, could be used to surveil communications—a direct threat to U.S. national security, as Britain is a partner in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance. “In a world where leverage with China matters, the UK is giving up all its leverage in the hope of a trade deal,” a U.S. official warned in comments to the British press.
Nigel Farage’s Reform Party has also criticised the embassy decision, arguing that Labour is allowing a “serious threat to national security” in “a desperate attempt by the Labour government to cosy up to the Chinese Communist Party.” Notably, Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury Secretary) Rachel Reeves and other senior officials have visited China in recent months as part of efforts to improve Sino-British relations.
China purchased the Royal Mint Court site in 2018 for $324 million. Once completed, the 20,000-square-metre complex will be the largest Chinese embassy in Europe.
Image by Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street.
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