{"id":693835,"date":"2026-01-13T20:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/693835\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:09:10","slug":"chinas-london-super-embassy-almost-certain-to-get-go-ahead-next-week-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/693835\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s London super-embassy almost certain to get go-ahead next week | Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vast new Chinese embassy complex in east London<\/a> is almost certain to be formally approved next week despite renewed worries among Labour MPs about potential security risks and the effect on Hong Kong and Uyghur exiles in the capital.<\/p>\n

The green light for the super-embassy at Royal Mint Court near Tower Bridge would smooth relations before Keir Starmer\u2019s visit to China, which is expected to take place at the end of January, but officials insist there has been no political input in the planning process.<\/p>\n

It would be a controversial move, with a series of Labour MPs expressing concern in the Commons on Tuesday over the plans for the complex, which spans 20,000 sq metres.<\/p>\n

Answering an urgent question from the shadow Home Office minister, Alicia Kearns, the planning minister, Matthew Pennycook, whose department is responsible for the process, said he could not comment on what was a \u201cquasi-judicial\u201d process.<\/p>\n

Kearns secured the question after a report in the Daily Telegraph that unredacted plans for the embassy showed a network of more than 200 subterranean rooms, one of them alongside communication cables taking information to the City of London.<\/p>\n

Pennycook said any new information would be assessed, but the embassy is expected to be given the go-ahead next week after a final consultation. MI5 is understood not to have any security concerns about the project, as revealed by the Guardian<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

Kearns said the lack of concern was complacent, and that access to the cables underneath the embassy \u201cwould give the Chinese Communist party a launch pad for economic warfare against our nation\u201d.<\/p>\n

It would be \u201ca daily headache\u201d for our security services, she said, demanding the Chinese ambassador be called in to explain the plans. Citing Starmer\u2019s planned visit to China<\/a>, she asked if approval of the embassy would allow the prime minister to \u201cturn up with a gift in hand\u201d.<\/p>\n

Government officials are aware the timing could be useful but say it is coincidental. As one put it: \u201cThere is no political pressure, but that has crossed our minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

No Labour MPs spoke in favour of approving the plan during the urgent question. Among those who expressed concern was Sarah Champion, who chairs the Commons international development select committee.<\/p>\n

\u201cMultiple government agencies and government departments have raised concerns about this mega-embassy,\u201d she said. \u201cOur international partners have raised concerns about it. Every security briefing I\u2019ve had identifies China<\/a> as a hostile state to the UK. I am in no doubt this mega-embassy should not be allowed to go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Labour backbenchers focused primarily on the possible repercussions for residents originally from Hong Kong, Tibet or Xinjiang. Several said Chinese diplomatic missions had been used to target such diaspora populations before.<\/p>\n

Alex Sobel, the MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, said the embassy could pose a \u201creal threat\u201d to UK-based Hong Kongers and Uyghurs, the predominantly Muslim population of Xinjiang, the far-western region where China has been accused of abuses including forced labour and arbitrary detention.<\/p>\n

Rushanara Ali, the MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney, in whose constituency the embassy would be sited, called for the concerns of local people to be taken seriously, saying that the area\u2019s large Muslim population meant there was a particular focus on Xinjiang.<\/p>\n

Another Labour MP, James Naish, who represents Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, said the debate was not just about a building, but one of national security and the safety to diaspora groups. He asked for assurances that the process had been fair.<\/p>\n

Pennycook said: \u201cThe planning process hasn\u2019t been compromised. We will make a planning decision on the basis of the relevant propriety guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision had been delayed because of the \u201cdetailed nature of the representations that have been provided, and the need to give parties sufficient opportunity to respond\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vast new Chinese embassy complex in east London is almost certain to be formally approved next week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":506814,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-693835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-northern-ireland","13":"tag-scotland","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115889606857101572","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}