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The UK has approved China’s application to build a “mega” embassy in London despite fierce opposition and concerns over espionage, after security officials said they had devised a range of protective measures.
The decision, announced on Tuesday, ends months of wrangling but comes at a difficult time for the government as Donald Trump threatens Greenland and criticises Britain’s approach to a range of foreign policy issues.
The proposed embassy has become a flashpoint in UK-China relations in recent months, just as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer seeks to nurture stronger trade ties with Beijing and prepares to visit China.
China has criticised multiple delays to the decision by the government, while critics have warned that the building on the former site of the Royal Mint could serve as a spying hub, in part because sensitive data cables run nearby from the City of London.
Meanwhile, the UK wants to rebuild its own embassy in Beijing but has been struggling to secure approval for the project from the Chinese government.
Seema Malhotra, a Foreign Office minister, told the House of Commons on Monday that UK security and intelligence agencies had “been involved throughout” the decision-making process and “a range of measures have been developed and are being implemented to protect national security”.
She did not provide further details of the measures.
The approval of the embassy clears the way for Starmer to travel to Beijing next week for the first such visit by a UK premier in eight years.
Baroness Theresa May, former Conservative prime minister, was the last UK leader to visit China in 2018 and Starmer wants to build economic relations, including on financial services, with the country.
“We won’t announce the visit” on Tuesday, said one British official, adding that the government hoped to “decouple” approval of the embassy from Starmer’s trip, expected at the end of next week.
This is a developing story